music theory Music theory is the study of the practices and possibilities of music. ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' describes three interrelated uses of the term "music theory". The first is the " rudiments", that are needed to understand music notation (k ...

, a minor seventh is one of two

musical interval In music theory, an interval is a difference in pitch between two sounds. An interval may be described as horizontal, linear, or melodic if it refers to successively sounding tones, such as two adjacent pitches in a melody, and vertical or ha ...

s that span seven staff positions. It is ''minor'' because it is the smaller of the two sevenths, spanning ten

semitone A semitone, also called a half step or a half tone, is the smallest musical interval commonly used in Western tonal music, and it is considered the most dissonant when sounded harmonically. It is defined as the interval between two adjacent no ...

s. The

major seventh In music from Western culture, a seventh is a musical interval encompassing seven staff positions (see Interval number for more details), and the major seventh is one of two commonly occurring sevenths. It is qualified as ''major'' because it i ...

spans eleven. For example, the interval from A to G is a minor seventh, as the note G lies ten semitones above A, and there are seven staff positions from A to G. Diminished and augmented sevenths span the same number of staff positions, but consist of a different number of semitones (nine and twelve, respectively). Minor seventh intervals rarely feature in melodies (and especially in their openings) but occur more often than major sevenths. The best-known example, in part due to its frequent use in theory classes, is found between the first two words of the phrase "There's a place for us" in the song " Somewhere" in ''

West Side Story ''West Side Story'' is a musical conceived by Jerome Robbins with music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a book by Arthur Laurents. Inspired by William Shakespeare's play '' Romeo and Juliet'', the story is set in the mid ...

''.Neely, Blake (2009). ''Piano For Dummies'', p.201. . Another well-known example occurs between the first two notes of the introduction to the main theme music from ''

Star Trek: The Original Series ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry that follows the adventures of the starship and its crew. It later acquired the retronym of ''Star Trek: The Original Series'' (''TOS'') to distinguis ...

'' theme.Keith Wyatt, Carl Schroeder, Joe Elliott (2005). ''Ear Training for the Contemporary Musician'', p.69. . The most common occurrence of the minor seventh is built on the

root In vascular plants, the roots are the organs of a plant that are modified to provide anchorage for the plant and take in water and nutrients into the plant body, which allows plants to grow taller and faster. They are most often below the su ...

of the prevailing key's dominant

triad Triad or triade may refer to: * a group of three Businesses and organisations * Triad (American fraternities), certain historic groupings of seminal college fraternities in North America * Triad (organized crime), a Chinese transnational orga ...

, producing the all-important

dominant seventh chord In music theory, a dominant seventh chord, or major minor seventh chord, is a seventh chord, usually built on the fifth degree of the major scale, and composed of a root, major third, perfect fifth, and minor seventh. Thus it is a major tri ...

Consonance and dissonance In music, consonance and dissonance are categorizations of simultaneous or successive sounds. Within the Western tradition, some listeners associate consonance with sweetness, pleasantness, and acceptability, and dissonance with harshness, unpl ...

are relative, depending on context, the minor seventh being defined as a dissonance requiring resolution to a consonance.

In other temperaments

just intonation In music, just intonation or pure intonation is the tuning of musical intervals as whole number ratios (such as 3:2 or 4:3) of frequencies. An interval tuned in this way is said to be pure, and is called a just interval. Just intervals (and ...

there is both a 16:9 "small just minor seventh", also called the "Pythagorean small minor seventh","On Certain Novel Aspects of Harmony", p.119. Eustace J. Breakspeare. ''Proceedings of the Musical Association'', 13th Sess., (1886 - 1887), pp. 113-131. Published by: Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Musical Association.() equivalent to two perfect fourths stacked on top of each other, and a 9:5 "large just minor seventh" () equivalent to a perfect fifth and a minor third on top of each other. An interval close in frequency is the

harmonic seventh The harmonic seventh interval, also known as the septimal minor seventh, or subminor seventh, is one with an exact 7:4 ratio (about 969 cents). This is somewhat narrower than and is, "particularly sweet", "sweeter in quality" than an "ordinar ...

.David Dunn, 2000
Harry Partch: an anthology of critical perspectives

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Minor Seventh Minor intervals Sevenths (music) no:Liten septim

In other temperaments

See also

References