Major seventh the same number of staff positions, but consist of a different number of semitones (nine and twelve). The easiest way to locate and identify the major seventh is from the octave rather than the unison, and it is suggested that one sings the octave first. For example, the most commonly cited example of a melody featuring a major seventh is the tonic-octave-major seventh of the opening to "(Somewhere) Over the Rainbow". "Not many songwriters begin a melody with a major seventh interval; perhaps that's why there are few memorable examples." However, two songs provide exceptions to this generalisation: Cole Porter's
Octave experience octave equivalency, and its biological basis apparently is an octave mapping of neurons in the auditory thalamus of the mammalian brain. Studies have also shown the perception of octave equivalence in rats , human infants , and musicians but not starlings , 4–9 year old children , or nonmusicians . Most musical scales are written so that they begin and end on notes that are an octave apart. For example, the C major scale is typically written (shown below), the initial and final C's being an octave apart. \override Score.TimeSignature #'stencil = ##f \relative c' { </score> Because of