Press Up to hear a major seventh, then try the quiz!
Intervals · M7 ·
Major seventh
A major seventh is eleven semitones, the distance from C up to B. It is do up to ti, one key short of an octave.
Listen: C4 and B4
Quiz
Wormy plays one of these, up or down, from a different note each time. Can you tell which: minor seventh, major seventh, octave?
What it sounds like
Eleven keys apart, shimmering and a little sharp-edged. It sounds like it is reaching for the octave and just missing.
In music theory
Add ti to a major chord and you get a major seventh chord, the dreamy sound of a lot of jazz and bossa nova. Upside down, it becomes a minor second, which is why ti pulls so hard toward do.
Where you've heard it
No well-known tune from before 1931 opens on this leap, and Wormy only names songs that are free for everyone. The best reference is the scale itself: sing do up to ti.
Every tune named here is public domain in the US or traditional. Wormy names the spot; it never plays the song.