Interval · m7 · 10 half steps
The minor seventh
A minor seventh is 10 half steps wide, spanning seven letter names: C to B♭. The seventh of a dominant seventh chord; bluesy and open.
- Half steps10
- Letter names7
- From CC–B♭
- Inverts tomajor second
The minor seventh on the staff
An interval’s number counts letter names from the bottom note to the top, both included: C, D, E, F, G, A and B is seven, a seventh. On the staff, both notes are on lines or both in spaces: from a line, it lands on the third line up (skipping two lines between); from a space, on the third space up.
The number alone doesn’t make it a minor seventh: minor means exactly 10 half steps. Check for sharps and flats, including the key signature: D–C is a minor seventh, but change one note by a half step and the same seventh on the staff becomes a major seventh or something rarer.
Each example below plays the two notes one after the other (a melodic interval), then together (a harmonic interval).
On the piano
Count half steps: every key, black or white, is one half step from the next. From middle C, the minor seventh is the 10th key up, B♭.
Think of the octave and come down a whole step: from C, the octave is C, and a whole step below it is B♭. D–C, E–D, G–F, A–G and B–A are the white-key minor sevenths.
On the white keys alone, the minor sevenths are D–C, E–D, G–F, A–G and B–A.
How a minor seventh sounds
A minor seventh sounds open and unresolved, a little bluesy: a wide reach that wants to fall back a step. Played together, the two notes don’t clash as hard as a major seventh but clearly ask to move on.
In harmony, it’s a dissonance: the two notes clash and want to move.
Tunes that start with it
- “Somewhere” from West Side Story starts with a minor seventh up: “There’s a”.
- The theme of the original Star Trek series opens with a minor seventh up.
Hum the tune’s first two notes and you have the interval: a quick way to sing one before you play it.
Where you’ll meet it
A minor seventh is the distance from the root to the top of a dominant seventh chord: G up to F in G7. It’s also a major second turned upside down, so it’s quickest to find as a whole step below the octave.
Turned upside down, with the bottom note moved up an octave, a minor seventh becomes a major second: 10 and 2 half steps make an octave, and the letter numbers always add up to nine (7 + 2).
To read it fast in real music, practise intervals the way you read words: as shapes. Level 18: right-hand intervals in the free sight-reading exercises has plenty of them.
Quiz: the minor seventh
Ten questions: name the interval on the staff, among its neighbours, and play a minor seventh above a written note on the piano below, a MIDI keyboard or your computer keys.
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A minor seventh above every note
| From | A minor seventh up |
|---|---|
| C | B♭ |
| C♯ | B |
| D | C |
| E♭ | D♭ |
| E | D |
| F | E♭ |
| F♯ | E |
| G | F |
| A♭ | G♭ |
| A | G |
| B♭ | A♭ |
| B | A |
Each one is spelt with the 7th letter up, which is why some need a sharp or flat that looks unusual, like C♯ up to B.
Questions
How many half steps are in a minor seventh?
10 half steps, or 5 whole steps. Count every key, black and white, from the bottom note up to the top one: C to B♭ is a minor seventh.
What is a minor seventh above C?
B♭. It’s spelt with the 7th letter up from C (C, D, E, F, G, A and B), so it’s written B♭ rather than A♯, though both are the same key.
What is the inversion of a minor seventh?
A major second. Move the bottom note up an octave and the ten half steps become two: minor seventh and major second add up to an octave.
How do you recognise a minor seventh on the staff?
Both notes are on lines or both in spaces: from a line, it lands on the third line up (skipping two lines between); from a space, on the third space up. That tells you the letter distance; then check the sharps, flats and key signature to tell major from minor.
What song starts with a minor seventh?
“Somewhere” from West Side Story starts with a minor seventh up: “There’s a”.
Hear every interval in real music
Pianomi, a free sight-reading app for piano, writes new pieces at your level and listens to your MIDI keyboard, so intervals become shapes you read without counting.