Why is it called Bm(maj7)

Uh, huh. Yep, it can.

You've got the notes B and D, which gives you Bm, the F# completes the Bm chord as the 5th, and Bb (A#) is a semitone down from the tonic making it a maj7 (based on a B Major scale).

There's probably no other way of describing the chord - if you used the F# as the root, you've got a Major 3rd at A# and a Suspended 4th at B and the augmented 5th at D giving F#sus4(aug5) - all a bit messy really. Using D as the root would give you something like Daug(dim6) - so you're caught between a rock and a hard place.

Someone check this - I'm replying from the office and it's a busy day.

Best,

A :-)

I think if you constructed this chord as it occurrs in the natural relative minor scale it would be a minor 7th over a B minor triad.

I think if you construct it using the harmonic minor scale with the seventh raised a half step, you'll find a major 7th over a minor triad, with the 7th appearing as a sharped accidental notes.

What key is the song in?  Are you noticing the accidentals in the melody?

I think if you constructed this chord as it occurrs in the natural relative minor scale it would be a minor 7th over a B minor triad.

I think if you construct it using the harmonic minor scale with the seventh raised a half step, you'll find a major 7th over a minor triad, with the 7th appearing as a sharped accidental notes.

What key is the song in?  Are you noticing the accidentals in the melody?

It's in D.  

Then constructed from the notes offered in the D major scale and it's relative B minor scale, the naturally occurring seventh would be A, and would be a minor 7th.

You should notice A# apearing as an accidental in the melody.

They are using the harmonic minor scale and have raised the seventh a half step.

A# and Bb are enharmonic equivalents.

At least as I understand it to be.

Musen,

if you look at this chart :

Greybeard's

at the the Extended chords, you'll see a minor 7 and a major 7 next to each other. The minor Major7 is a combination of the two - the minor triad and the major 7th (leading note not flat 7th, as in a B7).

Ron's right about the spelling.  When you look at a chord structure, all the notes should have different letter names (I won't go into the reasons, I've done that in other threads).  So, you won't see a chord with both a B and a Bb.

m/Maj7 chords happen with some regularity, although they're certainly rarer than dominants, maj7 and m7 chords.  The formula is 1-b3-5-7, so in B that's B-D-F#-A#

To make all the points so far absolutely clear.

Thanks for all the replies.  I just found it peculiar to see both minor and major in the chord name.   Fascinating stuff.

This might be an oversimplification but in a major 7th chord the word "major" is referring to the quality of the 7th.  So in a major 7th chord the 7th is from the major scale. For example A maj7th  is A C# E G#.  G# is the 7th note of theA major scale.  A(dom)7 is  A C# E  G. G is a b7th

Am7 = A C E G

Ammaj7th = A C E G#

minor maj7th's are minor chords with a major 7th

if you just see a 7 and not a maj 7 in a chord name it's a b7

Hey muse, its not the major and minor in the chord name..

its describing the intervals..

like a Half-Diminished compared with Full-Diminished, it has a major 3rd from 5-7, and a full diminished has a minor 3rd..

Bm = Minor 3rd + Major 3rd
Bm7 = Minor 3rd + Major 3rd + Minor 3rd

but this chord is asking for the last one to be a major 3rd..

so the (maj7) means the interval from the tonic to the 7th, is a "major seventh"

Bm(maj7) = Minor 3rd + Major 3rd + Major 3rd.

Does this help?

**

Its just i wouldnt understand most of the ^^ posts when i started out, and something like i wrote would click for me, so i just thought i would re-word it a bit.

Yeah, I think that makes some sense -- I had tended to think of it as kind of "slash" chord. Not in that the bass note's altered but in that it's referring to an alteration in the chord.   I think that's consonant with the other explanations  you and OP are offering.  The major's not meaning a major chord.  

By the way, no accidentals in the melody line. Key signature is D.   Chord progression is D6 Em7 Bm Bm7 Bm(maj7) G D7  A7 D6 Em7

No accidentals?

My teacher said that a great hint as to whether or not they were using the harmonic minor scale, was to look for accidentals in the melody.    hmmm.... :P

I'm going to have to go look for that song now!
Doesn't ring a bell.

:) I'm going to have to go look for that song now!
It doesn't ring a bell...

It's all kind of a stretch for me!
But my teacher had said that a great hint as to whether they were using the harmonic minor scale was to look for the #accidental seventh in the melody.

Maybe thats one of those "in most cases" things?? :-/

Take a look here:

http://www.sheetmusicdirect.com/01new_details.ihtml?ID_No=0019353

It will show you the first page.  (I'm working from a collection not the digital copy but it's the same).  I'm not sure why the sheet music in digital form refers to the film Mr. Holland's Opus.  The song is on the last Lennon album released during his lifetime:  Double Fantasy.  If you look at the version at sheetmusic direct you'll have to download their free viewer.  The B minor sequence only occurs once during the bridge.