In
classical music from
Western culture, a
seventh is a
musical interval encompassing seven
staff positions (see
Interval number for more details), and the
major seventh is one of two commonly occurring sevenths. It is qualified as
major because it is the larger of the two. The major seventh spans eleven
semitones, its smaller counterpart being the
minor seventh, spanning ten semitones. For example, the interval from C to B is a major seventh, as the note B lies eleven semitones above C, and there are seven staff positions from C to B.
Diminished and
augmented sevenths span the same number of staff positions, but consist of a different number of semitones (nine and twelve).