m7 Piano Chords – VirtualPiano.io

m7 structure, shown with C

Cm7 is C–E♭–G–B♭: a C minor triad plus the minor seventh B♭. Its minor third E♭ distinguishes it from the dominant-seventh quality of C7.

Example notesC · E♭ · G · B♭

Formula1 · ♭3 · 5 · ♭7

IntervalsMinor third · Perfect fifth · Minor seventh

Semitones from the root0 · 3 · 7 · 10

StructureA minor triad plus a minor seventh produces the 1–♭3–5–♭7 structure.

One-note comparisonThe minor third establishes the minor quality; unlike C7, Cm7 contains no tritone between its third and seventh.

Common usesm7 often appears as ii7 in major, i7 or iv7 in minor, and as a modal tonic.

Minor seventh is a quality, not a fixed function. The same Cm7 can be predominant in B♭ major or tonic in C minor and modal music.

These examples place Cm7 in the two especially useful roles of predominant ii7 and minor tonic i7.

E♭ moves up a semitone to E, while C and G and B♭ remain as common tones.

Cm7

C7

Cm7, Cmin7, Cmi7 and C−7 are common spellings. CmMaj7 is different because it contains B natural rather than B♭.

Cm7 has the perfect fifth G. Cm7♭5 lowers that note to G♭, producing the half-diminished seventh quality.