Minor seventh

This article is about the interval. For the chord, see Minor seventh chord.

Minor seventh

Inverse	Major second
Name
Abbreviation	m7
Tuning
12 equal temperament	10 semitones (1000 cents)
Pythagorean tuning	16:9 (~996.09 cents)
5-limit tuning	9:5 (~1017.60 cents)
7-limit tuning	7:4 (~968.83 cents)

In music theory, a minor seventh is one of two musical intervals that span seven staff positions. It is minor because it is the smaller of the two sevenths, spanning ten semitones. The major seventh spans eleven. For example, the interval from A₃ to G₄ (in scientific pitch notation) is a minor seventh, as the note G₄ lies ten semitones above A₃, and there are seven staff positions from A₃ to G₄.

Diminished and augmented sevenths span the same number of staff positions, but consist of a different number of semitones (nine and twelve, respectively).