F minor-major seventh

Fm(maj7)

Also written FmM7 · F−Δ7 · Fmin(maj7)

NotesF · A♭ · C · E
Formula1 · ♭3 · 5 · 7
F1C5E7A♭♭3
Root position

A minor triad with a major 7th — the tonic of harmonic and melodic minor, and the sound of film noir. It lives in the line cliché Fm → Fm(maj7) → Fm7Fm6, where one voice falls a semitone at a time.

How pianists voice Fm(maj7)

Nobody plays a jazz chord in root position. These are the shapes that actually get played — the same ones Cadenza shows when you play the chord.

Shell Left hand

F1E7A♭♭3

1 · ♭3 · 7 — root, 3rd and 7th: the three notes that say what the chord is. Left hand, low; everything else is colour.

Rootless A From the 3rd

C5E7G9A♭♭3

♭3 · 5 · 7 · 9 — no root: the bass player has it. The left-hand voicing of modern jazz piano. Without F underneath, the same keys read as A♭maj7(♯5) — the bass turns them into Fm(maj7).

Rootless B From the 7th

E7G9C5A♭♭3

7 · 9 · ♭3 · 5 — the other half of the pair. A and B alternate through a ii–V–I so the hand barely moves.

Drop 2 Two hands

C5F1E7A♭♭3

5 · 1 · ♭3 · 7 — close position with the second voice from the top dropped an octave: wider, warmer, the standard for chord melody.

Fm(maj7) inversions

The same 4 notes with a different one in the bass. Each inversion is written as a slash chord.

Root position Fm(maj7)

F1C5E7A♭♭3

Root at the bottom, stacked in 3rds: 1 · ♭3 · 5 · 7.

1st inversion Fm(maj7)/A♭

C5E7F1A♭♭3

A♭ (the ♭3) in the bass: ♭3 · 5 · 7 · 1.

2nd inversion Fm(maj7)/C

C5E7F1A♭♭3

C (the 5) in the bass: 5 · 7 · 1 · ♭3.

3rd inversion Fm(maj7)/E

E7F1C5A♭♭3

E (the 7) in the bass: 7 · 1 · ♭3 · 5.

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