Minor seventh
A minor seventh is 10 half steps, written m7. From C it reaches B♭. Hear it one note after the other, then together.
What it sounds like
Ten half steps. As a leap it stretches; played together it is soft and unresolved, the sound of a seventh chord.
The 7 in a dominant seventh (C7) and in a minor seventh (Cm7) is a minor seventh above the root.
How to recognise a minor seventh by ear
Sing do up to the ♭7, or remember it as an octave minus a whole step: go up to the octave in your head, then come down two frets. Played together it sounds like a seventh chord waiting to resolve.
Inside the C major scale, the minor sevenths are D–C, E–D, G–F, A–G and B–A. That's why it feels so ordinary: most neighbouring letters in a major key are this far apart.
Add an octave and a minor seventh becomes a minor fourteenth, rarely named, because it just sounds like a wider seventh. Intervals bigger than an octave are called compound intervals; they keep the character of the smaller interval but sound more open.
Chords with a minor seventh above the root, shown on C: C7, Cm7, C9, Cm7♭5.
A minor seventh from every note
The letter name moves up 6 letters (a "seventh") and the distance is always 10 half steps.
| From | Up a minor seventh | |
|---|---|---|
| C | B♭ | |
| D♭ | C♭ | |
| D | C | |
| E♭ | D♭ | |
| E | D | |
| F | E♭ | |
| F♯ | E | |
| G | F | |
| A♭ | G♭ | |
| A | G | |
| B♭ | A♭ | |
| B | A |
Finding it on guitar
10 frets is a long stretch, so guitarists usually play a minor seventh across strings: on the next higher string it's 5 frets up from the starting note, and between the G and B strings add one more. The diagram starts from A on the low E string.
Other intervals
- minor second
- major second
- minor third
- major third
- perfect fourth
- tritone
- perfect fifth
- minor sixth
- major sixth
- major seventh
- octave
← major sixth · major seventh →
Minor seventh: questions
How many half steps is a minor seventh?
10. On the piano, count 10 keys up (black and white) from the starting note; on guitar, 10 frets up the same string.
What is a minor seventh above C?
B♭. Above G it is F, above D it is C.
Is a minor seventh consonant or dissonant?
Mild dissonance. Ten half steps.
What is the inversion of a minor seventh?
A major second. Turn the interval upside down (put the lower note on top) and the two sizes always add up to 12 half steps: 10 + 2.
Spellings computed from letter names and half steps, and checked against both. Updated September 2026.