Interval · 10 half steps
Minor seventh
A minor seventh is 10 half steps. From C, a minor seventh up is B♭.
- Half steps
- 10
- Short name
- m7
- Guitar frets
- 10
How it sounds
Bluesy and unresolved; it wants to come back down. Added to a chord it makes a dominant seventh or a minor seventh.
Songs to remember it by
Hum the start of Somewhere from West Side Story or the original Star Trek theme. The jump between the first two notes is a minor seventh. Reference songs get you started; after a while you will hear the interval itself.
On the guitar
Two strings higher, same fret. With the lower note on the low E or A string in standard tuning; shapes that cross from the G string to the B string move up one fret.
A minor seventh up from every note
| From | Up a minor seventh | Hear it |
|---|---|---|
| C | B♭ | |
| C♯ | B | |
| D | C | |
| E♭ | D♭ | |
| E | D | |
| F | E♭ | |
| F♯ | E | |
| G | F | |
| A♭ | G♭ | |
| A | G | |
| B♭ | A♭ | |
| B | A |
Chords with a minor seventh above the root
This interval isn’t in the game’s “How far apart?” round yet; it’s here so the reference is complete.