Major seventh chord

Major seventh chord
Component intervals from root
major seventh
perfect fifth
major third
root
Tuning
8:10:12:15[1]
Forte no. / Complement
4–20 / 8–20
{ \override Score.TimeSignature #'stencil = ##f \new PianoStaff << \new Staff << \relative c' { \stemUp \clef treble \key g \major \time 4/4 <d fis b d>1\fermata } >> \new Staff << \relative c { \clef bass \key g \major \time 4/4 <g g'>1\fermata \bar "|." } >> >> }
Dizzy Gillespie's 1956 recording of "Dizzy's Business" ends with a major seventh chord[2] with root on G.

In music, a major seventh chord is a seventh chord in which the third is a major third above the root and the seventh is a major seventh above the root. The major seventh chord, sometimes also called a Delta chord, can be written as maj7, M7, Δ, ⑦, etc. The "7" does not have to be superscripted, but if it is, then any alterations, added tones, or omissions are usually also superscripted. For example, the major seventh chord built on C, commonly written as Cmaj7, has pitches C–E–G–B:

{ \override Score.TimeSignature #'stencil = ##f \relative c' { \clef treble \time 4/4 \key c \major <c e g b>1 } }

It can be represented by the integer notation {0, 4, 7, 11}.

According to Forte, the major seventh chord is exemplified by IV7, which originates melodically.[3]

{ \override Score.SpacingSpanner.strict-note-spacing = ##t \set Score.proportionalNotationDuration = #(ly:make-moment 1/6) \new PianoStaff << \new Staff << \new Voice \relative c'' { \stemUp \clef treble \key c \major \time 4/4 f4 e d2 } \new Voice \relative c'' { \stemDown <a c>2 <g b> } >> \new Staff << \relative c { \clef bass \key c \major \time 4/4 f2_\markup { \concat { "IV" \hspace #1 "IV" \super \column { "7" } \hspace #1 "V" } } g } >> >> }
Just major seventh chord on C

The just major seventh chord is tuned in the ratios 8:10:12:15, as a just major chord is tuned 4:5:6 and a just major seventh is tuned 15:8.

The minor flat sixth chord (minor triad with an added minor sixth) is an inversion of this chord.

  1. ^ Shirlaw, Matthew (1900). The Theory of Harmony, p. 86. ISBN 978-1-4510-1534-8.
  2. ^ Walter Everett (Autumn, 2004). "A Royal Scam: The Abstruse and Ironic Bop-Rock Harmony of Steely Dan", p. 205, Music Theory Spectrum, vol. 26, no. 2, pp. 201–235.
  3. ^ Forte, Allen (1979). Tonal Harmony in Concept & Practice, p. 150. ISBN 0-03-020756-8.