Guitar chords · Major 7th
Bmaj7 chord on guitar
Bmaj7 (B major 7th) has four notes: B, D♯, F♯ and A♯, the The note a chord is named after and built up from. C is the root of C, Cm and C7., 3, 5 and 7.
Shapes
How to play Bmaj7
Strum a shape to hear it, or pick it one string at a time. R marks the The note a chord is named after and built up from. C is the root of C, Cm and C7.; the other numbers are the chord tones.
Bmaj7 has no common A chord played near the nut that uses some unfretted strings, such as the open G, C or Em.. Play it as the A shape at The metal strips across the neck, and the spaces between them. Each fret raises a string by one half step. 2 or the E shape at fret 7. A A chord or scale fingering with no open strings. Slide it up or down the neck and it changes its root but not its type: a major shape stays major. keeps its fingering anywhere on the neck: slide it up or down and the The note a chord is named after and built up from. C is the root of C, Cm and C7., on the lowest played string, names the chord.
A shape · fret 2
E shape · fret 7
Notes and formula
What makes Bmaj7 major 7th
A major A triad with one more 3rd on top, the 7th, which makes four notes: G7, Cmaj7 and Am7 are seventh chords. adds the note a The smallest distance in Western music: one fret on the guitar, such as E to F or F to F♯. below the The distance of twelve half steps, where a note comes round to the same name. Twelve frets up a string is an octave. to a major chord. It sounds soft, open and a little dreamy, at home in jazz, bossa nova and soul.
- 1Root: the note the chord is named after. Keep it.
- 3Essential: makes the chord what it is. Never drop it.
- 5Optional: drop it first when you run out of fingers.
The 3rd and the 7th make Bmaj7 a major A triad with one more 3rd on top, the 7th, which makes four notes: G7, Cmaj7 and Am7 are seventh chords.; you can leave out the 5th.
- BRroot
- D♯3essential
- F♯5optional
- A♯7essential
- B, the root
- Other chord tones
Keys
Keys with Bmaj7
Bmaj7 belongs to four keys: B major (Imaj7), F♯ major (IVmaj7), G♯ minor (IIImaj7) and D♯ minor (VImaj7).
Numerals follow the key's own scale, so III, VI and VII in a minor key are its own major chords. A ♭ or ♯ in front marks a chord from outside the key. How Roman numerals work
Progressions
Progressions with Bmaj7
Common progressions that use Bmaj7, each in a key that spells it Bmaj7. The outlined chord is Bmaj7.
Jazz ii–V–I in B major
ii7 – V7 – Imaj7
- C♯m7
- F♯7
- Bmaj7
Each chord falls a fifth to the next — a walk anticlockwise around the circle.
Heard in Autumn Leaves, Fly Me to the Moon
Slash chords
Bmaj7 over another bass note
A A chord with a different note in the bass, written after a slash: C/E is a C chord with E as its lowest note. The letter after the slash is the bass. keeps Bmaj7 on top and puts another note in the bass: the letter after the slash is the lowest note you play.
- Bmaj7/D♯
Bmaj7 with its 3rd, D♯, in the bass: the first inversion.
- Bmaj7/F♯
Bmaj7 with its 5th, F♯, in the bass: the second inversion.
- Bmaj7/A♯
Bmaj7 with its 7th, A♯, in the bass: the third inversion.
Same root
Other chords on B
Change one or two notes and the same The note a chord is named after and built up from. C is the root of C, Cm and C7. gives a different colour. Compare them by ear.
- B major
- Bm minor
- B7 dominant 7th
- Bm7 minor 7th
- Bsus2 suspended 2nd
- Bsus4 suspended 4th
- B6 major 6th
- Bm6 minor 6th
- Badd9 add 9
- B9 dominant 9th
- Bmaj9 major 9th
- Bm9 minor 9th
- B13 dominant 13th
- Bmaj13 major 13th
- Bm11 minor 11th
- B° diminished
- Bm7♭5 half-diminished 7th
- B°7 diminished 7th
- B+ augmented
- B5 power chord
- B7sus4 dominant 7th suspended 4th
- Bm(maj7) minor major 7th
- B6/9 six-nine
- Bm(add9) minor add 9
- B7♯9 dominant 7th sharp 9th
Questions
Bmaj7, in short
- What notes are in the Bmaj7 chord?
- Bmaj7 (B major 7th) has four notes: B, D♯, F♯ and A♯, the The note a chord is named after and built up from. C is the root of C, Cm and C7., 3, 5 and 7.
- How do you play Bmaj7 on guitar?
- Bmaj7 has no common A chord played near the nut that uses some unfretted strings, such as the open G, C or Em.. Play it as the A shape at The metal strips across the neck, and the spaces between them. Each fret raises a string by one half step. 2 or the E shape at fret 7.
- What key is Bmaj7 in?
- Bmaj7 belongs to four keys: B major (Imaj7), F♯ major (IVmaj7), G♯ minor (IIImaj7) and D♯ minor (VImaj7).