Practice

The Major 7th Interval (M7)

An interval is the distance between two notes, counted in semitones. Each of the thirteen simple intervals has its own page: reference songs that open with it, where it sits on the guitar fretboard, its inversion, and the chords built from it.

The major 7th spans 11 semitones — the widest tension — one half step shy of home. Measured up from a major-key tonic it lands on the 7th, so it is diatonic to every major key. Inverted (the lower note moved up an octave) it becomes the minor 2nd.

The classic way to internalize it: sing a song that opens with it — Take On Me (the chorus leap up to "me"). You also hear the major 7th inside chords built on it, like maj7, maj9, m(maj7), maj7#11. Then drill it on the ear trainer until you name it without thinking.