Component intervals from root | |
---|---|
major seventh | |
perfect fifth | |
major third | |
root | |
Tuning | |
8:10:12:15 | |
Forte no. / |
|
4-18 / |
In music, a major seventh chord is a seventh chord where the "third" note is a major third above the root, and the "seventh" note is a major seventh above the root (a fifth above the third note) play . The major seventh chord, sometimes also called a Delta chord, can be written as maj7, M7, Δ, ⑦, 7+, etc. It can be represented by the integer notation {0, 4, 7, 11}. In the case where the seventh note is a minor seventh above the root, it is instead called a dominant seventh chord.
In 1888, the French composer Erik Satie composed three slow waltzes, entitled Gymnopédies. The first and best-known of these, (Gymnopedie 1) alternates two major seventh chords :
Later examples of tonic major seventh chords include The Beatles' "This Boy", Bread's "Make It With You", America's "Tin Man", Blood Sweat & Tears' "You've Made Me So Very Happy", third and main part of Paul McCartney and Wings' "Band On The Run", Carly Simon's "The Right Thing To Do" Rupert Holmes' "Him" and, most famously, Chicago's "Colour My World".