Minor Major 7th

Notes and formula

The formula is 1 – ♭3 – 5 – 7, or 0 – 3 – 7 – 11 in semitones. A minor triad plus a major seventh, one semitone higher than the seventh a minor seventh chord would use.

That single semitone changes everything. B sits a semitone below the C above it, so the chord contains the same near-collision as a major seventh — but under a minor third, which the ear reads as darkness rather than shimmer.

How to play it

On piano the chord is C–E♭–G–B, and it needs spreading more than most: keep the root low and the seventh high, or the semitone between them turns into a growl.

On guitar the movable form is x3544x, sounding C–G–B–E♭. The shape is an ordinary minor barre with the seventh string raised a fret, which is also how it is easiest to remember.

Where it comes from

The minor-major seventh is the tonic chord of the melodic minor scale. Build a seventh chord on the first degree of C melodic minor — C, D, E♭, F, G, A, B — and this is what comes out, which is why it sounds like a minor key that has kept its leading tone.

Classical practice reaches it from the other direction: raise the seventh degree of a minor scale to make a proper cadence, and the tonic chord acquires a major seventh whether the composer intended a colour or not.

Where you hear it

Film and television use it as shorthand for suspense. The James Bond theme's signature chord is this one, and so is a great deal of noir scoring: the chord promises a resolution and withholds it indefinitely.

In jazz it appears as a tonic in minor keys where a plain minor seventh would sound too settled, and in ballad writing as the second chord of a descending line — the seventh falling from B to B♭ turns it into a minor seventh, and that descent is a cliché worth knowing because it is everywhere.

Minor major seventh or minor seventh

Cm7 is C–E♭–G–B♭; CmMaj7 is C–E♭–G–B. On paper the difference is one accidental, in sound it is the difference between calm and tension.

The mix-up is common because chart notation varies: m(maj7), mMaj7, mM7, −Δ and minMaj7 all mean the same chord. A lowercase m with a plain 7 never does.

Scales that contain it

Melodic minor fits without alteration and is the standard choice. Harmonic minor fits too and lowers the sixth degree, which darkens the chord further without contradicting a note of it.

Natural minor does not fit: its seventh is flattened, and that is precisely the note the chord raises. This is a rare case where the obvious scale for a minor chord is the wrong one.

Frequently asked questions