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A major seventh is the larger of two commonly occurring musical intervals that span seven diatonic scale
Diatonic scale

In music theory, a diatonic scale is a seven note musical scale comprising five whole steps and two half steps, in which the half steps are maximally separated....
 degrees. The prefix 'major' identifies it as being the larger of the two (by one chromatic semitone); its smaller counterpart being a minor seventh
Minor seventh

A minor seventh is the smaller of two commonly occurring musical intervals that span seven diatonic scale degrees. The prefix 'minor' identifies it as being the smaller of the two , its larger counterpart being a major seventh....
. The major seventh is abbreviated as M7 and its inversion
Inversion (music)

In music theory, the word inversion has several meanings. There are inverted chords, inverted melodies, inverted intervals, and inverted voices....
 is the minor second. It occurs most commonly built on the root of major triads, resulting in the chord type also known as major seventh
Seventh chord

A seventh chord is a chord consisting of a triad plus a note forming an interval of a seventh above the chord's root . When not otherwise specified, a "seventh chord" usually means a major triad with a flat seventh ....
.

A major seventh in just intonation
Just intonation

In music, just intonation is any musical tuning in which the frequency of notes are related by ratios of whole numbers. Any interval tuned in this way is called a just interval; in other words, the two notes are members of the same harmonic series ....
 most often corresponds to a pitch ratio of 15:8 , while in 12-tone equal temperament
Equal temperament

Equal temperament is a musical temperament, or a system of Musical tuning in which every pair of adjacent notes has an identical frequency ratios....
, a major seventh is equal to eleven semitone
Semitone

A semitone, also called a half step or a half tone,Aaron Copland, Leonard Bernstein, and others use "half tone".One source says that step is "chiefly US", and that half-tone is "chiefly N....
s, or 1100 cents, about 12 cents higher than the 15:8 major seventh.

The major seventh is considered one of the most dissonant
Consonance and dissonance

In music, a consonance is a harmony, Chord , or interval considered stable, as opposed to a dissonance ? considered unstable . The strictest definition of consonance may be only those sounds which are pleasant, while the most general definition includes any sounds which are used freely....
 intervals after its inversion the minor second.






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A major seventh is the larger of two commonly occurring musical intervals that span seven diatonic scale
Diatonic scale

In music theory, a diatonic scale is a seven note musical scale comprising five whole steps and two half steps, in which the half steps are maximally separated....
 degrees. The prefix 'major' identifies it as being the larger of the two (by one chromatic semitone); its smaller counterpart being a minor seventh
Minor seventh

A minor seventh is the smaller of two commonly occurring musical intervals that span seven diatonic scale degrees. The prefix 'minor' identifies it as being the smaller of the two , its larger counterpart being a major seventh....
. The major seventh is abbreviated as M7 and its inversion
Inversion (music)

In music theory, the word inversion has several meanings. There are inverted chords, inverted melodies, inverted intervals, and inverted voices....
 is the minor second. It occurs most commonly built on the root of major triads, resulting in the chord type also known as major seventh
Seventh chord

A seventh chord is a chord consisting of a triad plus a note forming an interval of a seventh above the chord's root . When not otherwise specified, a "seventh chord" usually means a major triad with a flat seventh ....
.

A major seventh in just intonation
Just intonation

In music, just intonation is any musical tuning in which the frequency of notes are related by ratios of whole numbers. Any interval tuned in this way is called a just interval; in other words, the two notes are members of the same harmonic series ....
 most often corresponds to a pitch ratio of 15:8 , while in 12-tone equal temperament
Equal temperament

Equal temperament is a musical temperament, or a system of Musical tuning in which every pair of adjacent notes has an identical frequency ratios....
, a major seventh is equal to eleven semitone
Semitone

A semitone, also called a half step or a half tone,Aaron Copland, Leonard Bernstein, and others use "half tone".One source says that step is "chiefly US", and that half-tone is "chiefly N....
s, or 1100 cents, about 12 cents higher than the 15:8 major seventh.

The major seventh is considered one of the most dissonant
Consonance and dissonance

In music, a consonance is a harmony, Chord , or interval considered stable, as opposed to a dissonance ? considered unstable . The strictest definition of consonance may be only those sounds which are pleasant, while the most general definition includes any sounds which are used freely....
 intervals after its inversion the minor second. For this reason, its melodic use is infrequent in classical music and almost nonexistent in popular music. One piece that makes use of the major seventh is "The Hut on Fowl's Legs" from Mussorgsky's
Modest Mussorgsky

Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky , one of the Russian composers known as the Five, was an innovator of Music of Russia. He strove to achieve a uniquely Russian musical identity, often in deliberate defiance of the established conventions of Western music....
 Pictures at an Exhibition
Pictures at an Exhibition

Pictures at an Exhibition is a famous suite of ten piano pieces composed by Modest Mussorgsky in 1874.The suite is generally acknowledged to be Mussorgsky's greatest solo piano composition, and has become a showpiece for virtuoso pianists....
.

Under equal temperament this interval is enharmonic
Enharmonic

In modern music and musical notation, an enharmonic equivalent is a note , interval , or key signature which is equivalence to some other note, interval, or key signature, but "spelled", or named, differently....
ally equivalent to a diminished octave (which has a similar musical use to the augmented unison).

See also

  • musical tuning
    Musical tuning

    In music, there are two common meanings for tuning:* #Tuning practice, the act of tuning an instrument or voice.* #Tuning systems, the various systems of Pitch used to tune an instrument, and their theoretical basis....
  • minor seventh
    Minor seventh

    A minor seventh is the smaller of two commonly occurring musical intervals that span seven diatonic scale degrees. The prefix 'minor' identifies it as being the smaller of the two , its larger counterpart being a major seventh....
  • list of meantone intervals
    List of meantone intervals

    The following is a list of intervals of meantone temperament. These intervals constitute the standard vocabulary of intervals for the Western common practice era....