The P12 Transform

P12 on C, voice by voice: the chords it pairs, the voice that steps, the source's own words, and every chord each side spells.

On C, P12 pairs C7 (C E G Bb) with Cm7 (C Eb G Bb): 1 voice steps, 3 hold, and the lead costs 1 semitone.

The voices of C7 paired with Cm7 by P12
Voice Becomes Step
C C holds
E Eb -1
G G holds
Bb Bb holds

What each side spells

  • C7: C7
  • Cm7: Eb6, Cm7

The paper's printed cycle through all 51 chords takes this step 3 times.

As the source prints it

The most parsimonious transformations exchange two types of sevenths moving just a note by a semitone or a whole-tone.

P12 : [x, x + 4, x + 7, x + 10] ↔ [x, x + 3, x + 7, x + 10]

— A Generalized Dual of the Tonnetz for Seventh Chords: Mathematical, Computational and Compositional Aspects, pp. 301–308; Sonia Cannas and Moreno Andreatta. The source, read 2026-10-25.

Every named transform · Every chord one voice away