Major 7th Chords

... maj7 guitar chords

Major 7th chords are a 4 note chord having a root, a major third, a perfect fifth and a major 7th. They are a major triad with an added major 7th.

They are written as maj7, M7, Δ, ⑦... the most common is maj7

Stacking thirds: Root - Major 3rd (3) - Minor 3rd (5) - Major 3rd (7)

The chord formula is 1 - 3 - 5 - 7

The featured song for this session using maj7 chords is 'Imagine' written and performed by John Lennon. I have included another version (see video below) by Sam Tsui and AHMIR which was recorded as a tribute to the 2011 Tuscon shooting.

The chord table below shows notes for all maj7 chords in all keys.

The following example shows how to calculate a maj7 chord.

Example: Calculating Dmaj7

maj7 Chords consist of the 1st, 3rd, 5th and 7th notes of the Major Scale
D chords are based on the D major scale
D major scale reads as follows: D - E - F# - G#- A - B - C#
Formula for maj7 chords: 1 - 3 - 5 - 7
Substitute the notes into the formula
Dmaj7 reads as follows: D - F# - A - C#

Major 7th Chord Table (maj7)

Chord(maj7)	A	A#	B♭	B	C	C#	D♭	D	D#	E♭	E	F	F#	G♭	G	G#	A♭
Root	A	A#	B♭	B	C	C#	D♭	D	D#	E♭	E	F	F#	G♭	G	G#	A♭
Major 3rd	C#	Cx(D)	D	D#	E	E#(F)	F	F#	Fx(G)	G	G#	A	A#	B♭	B	B#(C)	C
Perfect 5th	E	E#(F)	F	F#	G	G#	A♭	A	A#	B♭	B	C	C#	D	D	D#	E♭
Major 7th	G#	Gx(A)	A	A#	B	B#(C)	C	C#	Cx(D)	D	D#	E	E#(F)	F	F#	Fx(G)	G

Chart Legend:

Amaj7 to Cmaj7

Free Download:

major 7th Chords - Part 1

Free Download: major 7th Chords - Part 1

Fmaj7 to G#maj7 / Abmaj7

Free Download: major 7 Chords - Part 3

Imagine - Tribute

'Imagine' by John Lennon: Tucson Tribute - (Sam Tsui / AHMIR)... beautiful

If you want to play along with this version of the song, simply download the song from the Imagine page, place a capo on the second fret (this version is in the key of D), and play along. You could also open the Imagine page in a new window and split your screen. You can do this by a right-click on the 'Imagine' link and choose 'open link in new window'. You then need to resize both windows to suit... enjoy.