F Minor 7th
m7
0 - 3 - 7 - 10Minor + minor 7th
About F Minor 7th
F minor seventh is the barre chord that finally rewards the effort of the first fret. Where F minor demands a full barre for three notes, the seventh version gives four notes for the same work — and the added E♭ makes the chord noticeably easier on the ear.
The notes
F, A♭, C, E♭. Two flats, neither available open. The E♭ is the seventh, and it is what allows the partial shapes: a four-note chord tolerates a missing fifth, a triad does not.
The same notes read from A♭ give A♭6, which is why the two chords substitute for each other whenever the bass moves between F and A♭.
Positions
First fret with the low E root — the hardest and fullest. Eighth fret with the root on the A string — the practical choice, where the frets are closer and the tension lower.
A three-string version on the middle strings is standard in funk and soul, where the full chord would clutter a rhythm part.
The first-fret version is also the one that teaches barre technique fastest, precisely because it is unforgiving: four notes must sound cleanly under a single finger, and any collapse in the hand is immediately audible.
Where it shows up
As the ii of E♭ major and the vi of A♭ — flat keys again, and the reason this chord belongs to horn-led music more than to guitar-led.
It also appears as a borrowed chord in the key of C major, where Fm7 replacing Fmaj7 darkens a progression by one note and is one of the oldest tricks in popular songwriting.