A major seventh chord is composed using a root/1^st, major 3^rd, perfect 5^th and major 7^th (or R/1-3-5-7) intervals played simultaneously. Generally written as CMA⁷, Cma⁷ or C⁷, it is good practice to simply use an uppercase C with the uppercase letters MA followed by a superscripted ⁷ to represent it in writing (ie: CMA⁷).

In guitar, the intervals of a major seventh chord may not always be played in tonal order (root/1^st, major 3^rd, perfect 5^th, major 7^th, in this order) however the root note will always be the lowest tone (and most distinct) unless it is an inversion. For example: a CMA⁷ chord played on the 8^th fret using voicing #4 has a interval sequence of: root/1^st, major 7^th, major 3^rd and perfect 5^th or R/1-7-3-5.

The tonality of a major seventh chord is consonant, resolved and stable, it does not "lead away" from itself like the dominant seventh chord, or leave the listener with a sense of "suspense" like the minor seventh flat five chord.

Major Seventh Tetrad

In music theory, a major seventh chord belongs to a group of chords called tetrads. Generally, a tetrad is a four note chord composed using specific intervals, those being the root/1^st, the 3^rd, the 5^th and the 7^th degrees (note absence of interval quality). As previously shown, a major seventh tetrad is composed using a root/1^st, major 3^rd, perfect 5^th and major 7^th (R/1-3-5-7) intervals. Other tetrads are built by raising or lowering the 3^rd, 5^th and/or 7^th degrees. For instance, a minor seventh tetrad interval structure is root/1^st, minor 3^rd, perfect 5^th and minor 7^th (R/1-3-5-7). The interval structure for a minor seventh flat five tetrad is root/1^st, minor 3^rd, diminished 5^th and minor 7^th (R/1-3-5-7), and a dominant seventh tetrad is root/1^st, major 3^rd, perfect 5^th and minor 7^th (R/1-3-5-7).

Major seventh, minor seventh, dominant seventh and minor seventh flat five tetrads occur naturally in the harmonized major scale (tetrads).

Major Seventh Chord Profile

Intervals	root/1st, major 3rd, perfect 5th, major 7th or R/1-3-5-7
Stability	Consonant / Stable / Resolved
Grouping Class	Tetrad
Common Names (examples in C)	CMA7, Cmaj7, CMAJ7, Cma7, C7

Major Seventh Chord Voicings

The chord voicings below are not shown in any particular key, they are shapes which can be moved around the guitar neck freely using the root note (circled dot) as your navigator. See example below.

• How to use
• As an example, let's say you require a D major chord
• After playing all the chord voicings, you decide on voicing #2
• Voicing #2 has it's root on the 5^th string so you need to find the D note on this string
• Click the notes on the neck chart tab and find the D note on the 5^th fret (5^th string)
• Now play D major using voicing #2 on the 5^th fret
• Use the Octave chart tab to help you remember which notes are where
• Use the Chord chart help tab if your a beginner at reading chord boxes

Major Seventh Chord Audio Sample(s)

To download audio sample(s) for later listening, right click on the MP3 link, then from the context menu that appears select Save Target As (Internet Explorer) or Save Link As (Firefox).

Audio Sample Name	Flash	MP3
D Major Seventh Chord voicing #1		d-major-seventh-chord-voicing-1.mp3

Related Lessons & Resources

• Guitar Lessons
• • How to read chord diagrams
  • Open chords part 1
• Music Theory
• • Harmonizing a major scale (triads)

External Resources

• Major seventh chord at Wikipedia.org