Skip to content
Tomus

Chord reference

Minor seventh

1 – ♭3 – 5 – ♭7 · example: Cm7 = C – E♭ – G – B♭

A minor triad with a minor seventh. The standard minor chord in jazz and pop harmony.

Written as a formula it is 1 – ♭3 – 5 – ♭7: the degrees of the major scale it keeps, with any that are altered marked. On C that gives Cm7 = C, E♭, G, B♭.

How it is built

  1. B♭
    major
  2. G
    third
  3. E♭
    minor
  4. Croot
Cm7 stacked from the root upwards, with the interval between each pair of notes.
𝄞CE♭GB♭
Cm7 written out as an arpeggio, lowest note first.
CCDEFGGABCDEE♭B♭
Cm7 on the keyboard, root highlighted.

The intervals above the root

Chord toneInterval above the rootSemitonesNote in Cm7
1Perfect unison0C
♭3Minor third3E♭
5Perfect fifth7G
♭7Minor seventh10B♭

Inversions

The same notes can be stacked in any vertical order. The chord keeps its name; what changes is which note is in the bass. See chord inversions for why that matters.

PositionNotesWritten as
Root positionC – E♭ – G – B♭Cm7
First inversionE♭ – G – B♭ – CCm7/E♭
Second inversionG – B♭ – C – E♭Cm7/G
Third inversionB♭ – C – E♭ – GCm7/B♭

This chord on every root

RootSymbolNotes
CCm7C – E♭ – G – B♭
D♭D♭m7D♭ – F♭ – A♭ – C♭
DDm7D – F – A – C
E♭E♭m7E♭ – G♭ – B♭ – D♭
EEm7E – G – B – D
FFm7F – A♭ – C – E♭
F♯F♯m7F♯ – A – C♯ – E
GGm7G – B♭ – D – F
A♭A♭m7A♭ – C♭ – E♭ – G♭
AAm7A – C – E – G
B♭B♭m7B♭ – D♭ – F – A♭
BBm7B – D – F♯ – A
Twelve roots, one shape. The interval pattern above the root never changes.

Nearby chords

All chord types