minor sventh chord / major tonality

Historically, the minor 7th chord configuration, with it’s minor triad and blue seven, functions in basically two fashions. One use of the minor 7th chord is as the overall tonic of a musical composition, based on the natural minor scale creating the minor tonal environment. Click tonic minor 7 to explore using this chord color as a functioning tonic within the minor tonality. Second, the minor 7 chord functions as a passing chord within both the major and minor tonal environments. It is this second function that will be addressed in the following discussions.

In the major tonality, the minor 7th family of chords is simply a group of chords that can provide a secondary degree of stability between tonic function chords and the dominant chords. In the gradual building of musical tension, this harmony is oftentimes the perfect choice. Based upon a minor triad, the minor 7th chord offers a somewhat softened stability in relation to the major chords within the major tonal environment, thus is oftentimes used as a passing chord between the tonic and dominant colors. Example 1.

Sound familiar? We hear this all the time within the various styles of American music. Simply diatonically ascending the pitches of the major scale.

In the major tonality, the minor seventh chord is perhaps most easily created when viewed as the harmony built upon the second scale degree of our major scale, thus it's being named the "Two chord", when found within the major tonality. Using the key of C major as our tonal center, here is our chart for locating and spelling out the diatonic Two chord. Example 2.

The essential part of Two chord type harmony that structurally provides the quality of sound associated with the this family is based on the third and seventh degree of the chord. Right, the same key chord degrees used in determining tonic and dominant chord type. This system of thought is very consistent yes? Well, so far at least... Let's extract the D minor seventh chord, i.e., the Two chord in the key of C major, and examine it's pitches and intervals. Example 2a.

The third degree F is a minor third above the root D. The seventh of our chord C, is a minor seventh above our root pitch D. Aren't these both blue notes? Yep. The makeup of this chord and it's extensions follows a rather consistent cycling of a minor third / major third / minor third / major third pattern. Using our intervalic building blocks, examine the minor 7th structure. Example 2b.

Find and create this popular D min 7th chord sequence on your instrument and begin to get a feel for its relative stability and warm sonority. Here are 2 minor seventh chord types used in a very common chord progression found in various styles of American music. Hip to the the One, Six, Two, Five chord progression? The Six and Two chords are minor seventh ( ii ) chord types surrounded by the tonic and dominant chord type (s). Example 3.

Ah, such a lovely arpeggiated melody yes? This above sequence of chords is very popular with lounge lizards, cowboys and without the sevenths, the 50's rockers, the all important "Teenager In Love" changes.

So, have a sense of why the minor 7th chord is called the Two chord in the major tonality? Cool. Let's expand and create other colors of the Two minor seventh type ( ii min 7 ) chords by moving into the upper structure of the arpeggio. In the following chart we simply think of D as the root and spell the chord diatonically using the pitches of the C major scale. Example 4.

Here are a few common colors associated with the Two chord type harmony. Example 5.

The last chord in bar 8 above, the ii min 7 b5, is not diatonically derived from the pitches of the major scale, at least not the C major scale, as in the present line of thinking. So why include it here? Well, it is a very common and unique sounding Two type chord, in both the major and minor tonal environments. The flatted fifth is a important blues color, so essential to all styles of American music. Needless to say, there are other ways to color the Two chord, but the above four color tones are by far and away the most popular. 

Here are a few additional Two chord voicings and arpeggios continuing the above ideas. Most of the following shapes will function well in a Two ( ii min 7 ), Three chord ( iii min 7 ) and Six ( vi min 7 ) capacity, when working in the major tonal environment, or as the One, Four and Five chords in the natural minor world. The darker colors of bars 13 through 16 are a bit unstable as a tonal center. Perhaps the idea of what works today gets old after being used and the need to explore expands our horizons? Although we’ll use the pitch D as the root pitch for all of the examples which follow, the labels identifying each of the voicings substitute the lower case Roman number two ( ii ) for the letter D, creating a more "chord type" approach. Perhaps try recombining the pitches of the chords, creating different voicings of that particular color. 

If exploring these extended minor chord colors is new to your own present sound and approach, just remember that there is no right or wrong, just what works or does not work in creating and expressing our artistic statements. Perhaps survey the colors and if you hear a chord and arpeggio you dig, simply isolate that color and study its construction, run it through the 12 keys and its yours forever! Thus, the minor colors emerge. Example 6.

Repositioning of the root of the chord ( the D ) from any of the above voicings creates the essential inversions, another potentially important way to expand our harmonic resources.

To review, the Two chord configuration as created from within the major tonality, with it’s minor triad and minor seventh, functions in basically two fashions. One common use for the Two minor seventh chord is as a passing chord within both the major and minor tonal environments. In tunes in the minor tonality, the minor 7th chord and it's extensions often function as the overall tonic of a musical composition.

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