Major Seventh
Eleven semitones, one semitone under the octave. Played as a bare pair of notes it grates. Put it on top of a major chord and it turns into the softest sound on the site. Both are true, and the reason is distance.
- 11 semitones
- 15:8
- sharp alone, soft in a chord
related pages
What it is
Eleven semitones, a ratio of fifteen to eight. Invert a minor second and you get a major seventh: the two notes are the same pair, just arranged the other way around. That is why the interval can sound so different depending on how you space it.
How to recognise it
Bright and strained when the two notes are close. Dreamy and settled when the seventh sits high above the root, which is how it appears in a maj7 chord.
The contradiction is the lesson. Dissonance depends on how close two frequencies are, not on which notes they are. Spread the same interval out and the roughness goes.
Where it shows up
In maj7 chords, as the note that gives them their character. In mMaj7 chords, where the same interval over a minor triad sounds uneasy rather than soft. As the leading tone, one semitone below the tonic, where it creates the strongest pull in the key.
What it gets confused with
With the octave, one semitone wider, especially when played fast. And with the minor seventh, one semitone narrower, which is the distinction that decides a chord type.
Keep going
Everything in intervals
- Minor Second
- Major Second
- Minor Seventh
- Major Seventh
- Tritone