Guitar chords · Major 7th
Cmaj7 chord on guitar
Cmaj7 (C major 7th) has four notes: C, E, G and B, 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 Cmaj7
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.
Cmaj7 has an A chord played near the nut that uses some unfretted strings, such as the open G, C or Em., and two 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.: the A shape at The metal strips across the neck, and the spaces between them. Each fret raises a string by one half step. 3 and the E shape at fret 8. A movable shape 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.
Open
A shape · fret 3
E shape · fret 8
Notes and formula
What makes Cmaj7 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 Cmaj7 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.
- CRroot
- E3essential
- G5optional
- B7essential
- C, the root
- Other chord tones
Keys
Keys with Cmaj7
Cmaj7 belongs to four keys: C major (Imaj7), G major (IVmaj7), A minor (IIImaj7) and E 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 Cmaj7
Common progressions that use Cmaj7, each in a key that spells it Cmaj7. The outlined chord is Cmaj7.
Jazz ii–V–I in C major
ii7 – V7 – Imaj7
- Dm7
- G7
- Cmaj7
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
Cmaj7 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 Cmaj7 on top and puts another note in the bass: the letter after the slash is the lowest note you play.
- Cmaj7/E
Cmaj7 with its 3rd, E, in the bass: the first inversion.
- Cmaj7/G
Cmaj7 with its 5th, G, in the bass: the second inversion.
- Cmaj7/B
Cmaj7 with its 7th, B, in the bass: the third inversion.
Same root
Other chords on C
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.
- C major
- Cm minor
- C7 dominant 7th
- Cm7 minor 7th
- Csus2 suspended 2nd
- Csus4 suspended 4th
- C6 major 6th
- Cm6 minor 6th
- Cadd9 add 9
- C9 dominant 9th
- Cmaj9 major 9th
- Cm9 minor 9th
- C13 dominant 13th
- Cmaj13 major 13th
- Cm11 minor 11th
- C° diminished
- Cm7♭5 half-diminished 7th
- C°7 diminished 7th
- C+ augmented
- C5 power chord
- C7sus4 dominant 7th suspended 4th
- Cm(maj7) minor major 7th
- C6/9 six-nine
- Cm(add9) minor add 9
- C7♯9 dominant 7th sharp 9th
Questions
Cmaj7, in short
- What notes are in the Cmaj7 chord?
- Cmaj7 (C major 7th) has four notes: C, E, G and B, 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 Cmaj7 on guitar?
- Cmaj7 has an A chord played near the nut that uses some unfretted strings, such as the open G, C or Em., and two 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.: the A shape at The metal strips across the neck, and the spaces between them. Each fret raises a string by one half step. 3 and the E shape at fret 8.
- What key is Cmaj7 in?
- Cmaj7 belongs to four keys: C major (Imaj7), G major (IVmaj7), A minor (IIImaj7) and E minor (VImaj7).