Major 7Th's Dropped Before Chord Change?

Hello

I am reading Gordon Delamont's "Modern Harmonic Technique" books and it says that in a Minor 7th chord the 7th cannot be dropped within the current chord(so if the notes arpeggiate you have to make sure the 7th is immediatly replaced in another voice), while the 9th, 11th and 13th of chords can be dropped before the chord changes. No mention is made of the Major 7th's however.

So my question is; are Major 7ths like 9th's, 11th's and 13th's where you can drop the extension within the current harmony , or are they like Minor 7th's and have to be retained until the the chord change.

Thanks for your time

... Gordon Delamont's "Modern Harmonic Technique" books and it says that in a Minor 7th chord the 7th cannot ...

Anything can...

Note:

In case you're in a school and teacher says you have to do what book says otherwise is "wrong".  then do it like they say while you finish school.

Can you be more specific? What do you mean by dropped? Chord change from what chord to what chord? An example would help.

Hello, let me try to explain it a little better.

In the book there is a section on "Change of position/arpeggiation" that talks about notes of a chord leaping to other notes of the same chord for melodic purposes, re-positioning of a voices or voices for more favourable voice leading etc...

When talking about arpeggiation of "Minor 7th" chords it states that the 7th may also leap to other notes of the same chord, but if it does then another voice must move to the 7th to replace it (whether it's the same note just left or if it's in a different octave, it's ok as long as you keep the 7th in there somewhere). When talking about 9th, 11th and 13th chord it says that the extensions may leap to other notes of the same chord, but you don't have to replace them like you do in a Minor 7th. I quote from the book: "While a Minor 7th must in general be retained in the chord until resolution takes place, a 9th, 11th, or 13th may be dropped"

Nothing is said about the Major 7th however so I'm unsure which catagory it fits into.

SYS65: I'm aware that anything goes in music, I'm always willing to do whatever the hell I want if my music sounds better for it, but I'd still like to understand what I'm doing.

I have never heard of this rule. On the face of it, it just doesn't make sense. It is the ear's job - the human's - to retain the notes played over time, whether arpeggios or melody, or block chords in a progression. I don't get what this guy is saying. First off, minor 7ths don't resolve the way dominant 7ths do. In any case, "retaining" them at all times doesn't make sense.

See the thread here: "Chromaticism" where I explain the functions of 7th chords in detail.

So in regards to the 7th usually resolving down a step; is this only a concern during a chord change? If a chord is struck as Dm7 for example, the C tone can freely move to D,F or A, In essence becoming a regular Dm triad before the next chord?

Maybe it would be better to think of ®esolve and ®esolve when it comes to cadences. If you play all the chords of a diatonic scale (make them all 7th chords) and improvise a melody in the right hand, staying in the key, you will notice some consonances and some dissonances, passing tones and tones that are members of the chord ®esovled. You can play almost anything because it's all in the key. Things get tricky when you go out of the key temporarily. Like D7-G7-C instead of Dm-G7-C because now you have F# to deal with.

What really drives the point about the 7th moving is that it is just a by product of what the bass is doing, moving up a fourth. The bass note drives this ®esolution. But it's not just V-1, it's ii-V, , etc. And you will notice it's not always a half step, it can be whole too and sometimes it doesn't move at all, as in vi-ii (Am7-Dm7)

edit: sorry, YC rendered my answer with graphics. I mean to distinguish between a small case resolve and an upper case Resolve.