Minor 7th

10 semitones — bluesy and forward-moving

Degree ♭7Solfège: teNotation: m7

The minor 7th, or dominant 7th, is an interval of 10 semitones. It is mildly dissonant — bluesy, with forward momentum, resolving down to the major 6th or up to the octave. It defines the dominant 7th and minor 7th tetrads, marks mixolydian (the ♭7 that distinguishes it from ionian), and is one of the two notes added when expanding a minor triad into the minor pentatonic.

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The instrumentTap a note to hear it.
The minor 7th in the harmonic series
f2f3f4f5f6f7f8f9f9f completes 9 cycles in one period of the sum9 cycles10f11f12f13f14f15f16f16f completes 16 cycles in one period of the sum16 cyclessum16:9 — the higher note vibrates 16 times for every 9 of the lower: harmonics 16 and 9 of one fundamental16:9♭7: the minor 7th — the interval's degree above the root, as the app writes it♭7The sum repeats every 9 cycles of 9f — the shorter this is, the more simply the two notes fit together, and the more consonant the intervalrepeats every 9 cycles16 cycles of 9f
Harmonic seriesEach row is one harmonic of the note — n times the fundamental's frequency, about 1/n of its strength — faster and fainter as it climbs. The rows in ink are where the chosen interval first arises. The bottom row is the one your ear actually receives: those rows added, a single wave. The shaded band is one repeat of it — the shorter that pattern, the sooner the ear settles on it as one sound. Harmonics 9 and 16 — the ratio 16:9: a minor 7th. Together they repeat every 9 cycles of the lower note — the shorter that pattern, the sooner your ear has heard it come round enough times to settle on one sound. Equal temperament tunes it 4¢ wider.

Related

Contained byIntervalsRelatedSolfègeDominant 7thMinor 7thMixolydianMinor PentatonicDissonance