Minor seventh

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**minor seventh**
Inverse	major second
Name
Other names	-
Abbreviation	m7
Size
Semitones	10
Interval class	2
Just interval	16:9 or 9:5
Cents
Equal temperament	1000
Just intonation	996 or 1018

A minor seventh is the smaller of two commonly occurring musical intervals that span seven diatonic scale degrees. The prefix 'minor' identifies it as being the smaller of the two (by one chromatic semitone), its larger counterpart being a major seventh. The minor seventh is abbreviated as m7 and its inversion is the major second. Its most common occurrence is built on the root of the prevailing key's dominant triad, producing the all-important dominant seventh chord.

A minor seventh in just intonation corresponds to a pitch ratio of 16:9 or 9:5, while in an equal tempered tuning it is a ratio of 1:2^10/12 (approximately 1.781), or 1000 cents, 3.910 cents sharper than the 16:9 ratio and 17.596 cents flatter than the 9:5 ratio.

An interval close in magnitude is the harmonic seventh, with an exact 7:4 ratio (e.g., the three-quarter point of the octave, 1.75), which makes it quasi-harmonically significant. This interval is about 969 cents, or one-third of a semitone flatter than the equal-temperament minor seventh.

The minor seventh is considered a mildly dissonant interval, more dissonant than the thirds and sixths, but considerably less dissonant than the minor second and major seventh. It is the second hardest interval to identify by ear [1], just behind the minor sixth.

See also:

v • d • e Intervals
Perfect	unison (0) · fourth (5) · fifth (7) · octave (12)
Major	second (2) · third (4) · sixth (9) · seventh (11)
Minor	second (1) · third (3)
Augmented	unison (1) · second (3) · third (5) · fourth (6) · fifth (8) · sixth (10) · seventh (12)
Diminished	second (0) · third (2) · fourth (4) · fifth (6) · sixth (7) · seventh (9) · octave (11)
Semitones are given in brackets

Chords


By Type	Triad	Major · Minor · Augmented · Diminished · Suspended

	Seventh	Major · Minor · Dominant · Diminished · Half-diminished · Minor-major · Augmented major · Augmented minor

	Extended	Ninth · Eleventh · Thirteenth

	Other	Sixth · Augmented sixth · Altered · Added tone · Polychord · Quartal and quintal · Tone cluster· Power

By Function	Diatonic	Tonic · Dominant · Subdominant · Submediant

	Altered	Borrowed · Neapolitan chord · Secondary dominant · Secondary subdominant