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  3. Ch.4.10 Major and minor seventh

4.10 Major and minor seventh

 

Category: Harmony | Tags: Intervals, Ear training: intervals

Theory

In Chapter 2.7 Sixth, seventh and octave you’ve learned what a seventh is. In this chapter, you will learn that there are two kinds of sevenths, namely the major seventh and the minor seventh. In the videos and examples I show how to make major and minor sevenths. You learn to recognize major and minor sevenths and you are going to make them yourself in the exercises. You will also learn to distinguish major and minor sevenths by ear.

1. What are major and minor sevenths?

When you play sevenths on the piano, you can see that the distance between the tones of the different kinds of sevenths is not always the same. For example, the seventh C B is made up of eleven half steps (five whole steps and one half step), or a half step below the octave.

major seventh
The seventh C B is a half step below the octave C C.

But, this isn’t the case with all of the sevenths. For example, the seventh D C is made up of ten half steps (five whole steps), or a whole step below the octave.

minor seventh
The seventh D C is a whole step below the octave D D.

The seventh C B is greater than the seventh D C.
The seventh C B is called a major seventh and the seventh D C is called a minor seventh.
Also by ear, you can hear a difference between a major seventh and a minor seventh.

cd Major and minor seventh | Musictheory.educationThe major seventh C B

 

cd Major and minor seventh | Musictheory.educationThe minor seventh C Bb

 

Video

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Examples

Which tones do you get if you make sevenths on the natural notes?

note example

piano example

2. Minor sevenths

 

Video

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Examples

Which tones do you get if you make minor sevenths on the natural notes?

note example

piano example

3. Major sevenths

 

Video

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Examples

Which tones do you get if you make major sevenths on the natural notes?

note example

piano example

4. Practise

Harmony exercise 4g: practise recognizing major and minor sevenths from musical notation.

Harmony exercise 4h: practise making major and minor sevenths on the natural notes.

Harmony exercise 4i: practise making major and minor sevenths on all notes.

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5. Ear training

 

Practise

Ear Training exercise 4h: practise distinguishing the difference between a major and minor seventh by ear.

Ear Training exercise 4i: practise distinguishing the difference between a major and minor sixths and sevenths by ear.

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Example question

Which interval do you hear?

Choise 1: major seventh

Choise 2: minor seventh

 

Practical steps

Sing the interval being played to train your inner hearing abilties. Decide which interval is being played.

Answer: major seventh.