The Minor Seventh

Mystery, Future Unknown—1:7


When, in the Harmonic Series, the seventh partial arises, its dissonance calls us to move. It is via the seventh and fifth partial together, however, the Tritone, that the move actually gets underway. In the harmony of the Minor Seventh we find the seventh partial and the root, but with nothing definitive between: there’s a shift underway, umm, probably... but we can’t see to where or what. Its sound signals mystery; it contains a question mark.

In the active suit of Brass, the hermeneutic for the Minor Seventh is flying blind; in the emotional suit of Strings, anxiety; in the intellectual suit of Woodwinds, uncertainty; in the physical suit of Percussion, changeability; and in the spiritual, holistic suit of Voices, surrender

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