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17.3 · The Other Chords

The dark machinery

Two chords sit at the shadowy end of the wardrobe. The diminished 7th is a trapdoor: perfectly symmetric, at home nowhere, able to fall in any direction. The minor-major 7th is a shiver: a dark triad wearing one impossibly bright note.

°7: minor thirds all the way up

Root, +3, +3, +3. Every gap identical, so no note feels like the root. Pure suspense. Silent-film pianists played it every time the villain appeared.

The symmetry means C°7, E♭°7, G♭°7 and A°7 are all the same four notes. Hear it:

°7 vs. ø7: one note apart

The half-diminished ø7 keeps a normal minor 7th on top; the full diminished squeezes it down one more half step. Tiny change, very different temperature.

mMaj7: the spy movie chord

Take a minor triad and add the brightest possible 7th. The clash of dark below and light above is the last chord of every Bond theme.

Quiz

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What makes the °7 chord so unstable?

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