Major 7 chords or maj7 chords are staples in Jazz harmony. The maj7 chord is often used to provide resolution after harmonically tense moments, but can also create tension of its own if treated correctly.

In this lesson you’ll learn how to play the maj7 chord on guitar, as well as its inversions and substitutions. In addition to getting comfy with the maj7 chord on the fretboard, you’ll also play through solo and comping studies at the end of the lesson.

You can use the menu below to jump from topic to topic. If you’re new to the major 7 chord I recommend that you start from the beginning.

Major 7 Chord Basics

Before getting started with the major 7 chord, it’s important to be able to identify when you’ve run into one.

In music, the major 7 chord is commonly notated as:

Maj7

M7

△7

Why all the variety? When Jazz music was first being transcribed into fake books (bootleg copies of all the greatest Jazz standards), it wasn’t transcribed by one person. There was no previous approach to Jazz chord nomenclature outside of common practice harmony, which unfortunately doesn’t work out very well in a Jazz chart.

Between having the canon of Jazz transcribed by a variety of different people in different cities, and having no previous practical method for writing chord dots, the variation in notation starts to make a lot of sense.

Now, let’s take a look at a few voicings of the maj7 chord that you can use immediately. These first voicings of the major 7 chord are in root position and are the perfect place to start if you’re just getting into major 7 chords.

Regardless of the type of major 7 chord you need to form, whether it be an F major 7 (Fmaj7) or D major 7 (Dmaj7), the approach to building the correct chord is the same.

Select the first shape from the chord grids above (with R on the A-string), then position the R (root) on the correct note. If you’re building a Dmaj7, find the D on the string corresponding to the chord shape, then build the rest of the chord shape relative to that shape. Check out the tab below for an example of moving Cmaj7 up through 3 other maj7 chords.

The other notes you may have noticed in the maj7 chord by now include the 3rd, 5th, and 7th.

The intervallic structure of the maj7 chord is

R-3-5-7

The intervallic structure refers to the notes in the chord relative to the root note.

If the root note is A, the rest of the notes would be as follows:

3rd up from A – C#

5th up from A – E

7th up from A – G#

The result is a spelling of an A major 7 chord as A, C#, E, G#.

Then, if you take any of the maj7 chord shapes and apply them to an A root, you’ll get all 4 of the Amaj7 chord tones (A, C#, E, G#) without having to identify them individually.

What’s the next step?

Before moving on to inversions, you may want to sit and practice with the voicings you’ve learned so far. Be sure to practice in all 12 keys as well.

Here’s a chart that indicates all of the maj7 chords you might encounter in your jazz guitar journey. I’ve also included the spelling for each of these chords for a quick reference (it’s best to try and determine the notes on your own, then compare to the chart).

Chord (maj7) Spelling (R-3-5-7) Cmaj7 C-E-G-B Fmaj7 F-A-C-E Bbmaj7 Bb-D-F-A Ebmaj7 Eb-G-Bb-D Abmaj7 Ab-C-Eb-G Dbmaj7/C#maj7 Db-F-Ab-C/C#-E#-G#-B# Gbmaj7/F#maj7 Gb-Bb-Db-F/F#-A#-C#-E# Bmaj7 B-D#-F#-A# Emaj7 E-G#-B-D# Amaj7 A-C#-E-G# Dmaj7 D-F#-A-C# Gmaj7 G-B-D-F#

Major 7 Chords – Drop 2 Inversions

Drop 2 chords and inversions are some of the most useful chords for both soloing and comping. If you’d like to learn more about why Drop 2 chords are called Drop 2 chords, head on over to the Drop 2 chord description page.

Drop 2 chords have been used by many Jazz guitar greats such as Joe Pass, Ed Bickert and others. At the end of the lesson you’ll cover a few chord studies that display the versatility of the maj7 chord.

Before starting with inversions, you’ll need to know how to identify them.

If you ever run into a Cmaj7 in inversion, it will be notated with a slash between the chord quality and the lowest note in the chord. In a Cmaj7 chord the notes are C, E, G, B, which means there are 4 possible inversions (4 different notes can be positioned in the lowest voice, including the root).

Cmaj7 – The root position chord is labelled simply as Cmaj7, no slashes or alterations.

Cmaj7/E – This is a Cmaj7 chord in first inversion because the first available note after the root is positioned as the lowest note in the chord (the 3rd, E).

Cmaj7/G – This is a Cmaj7 chord in second inversion. Notice how the G is the lowest note in the chord now (G is the second available note after C).

Cmaj7/B – This is the third and last inversion of the Cmaj7 chord. B is the third and last available note after C, which forms a Cmaj7 in third inversion (Cmaj7/B) when positioned in the lowest voice.

Moving on, take a look at the video below, which shows all the possible inversions of Cmaj7 Drop 2 chords.

The video starts by playing the inversions built from the E-string, then the A-string and finally the D-string. On each string the inversions are played from lowest chord possible to highest.

Use the tab and notation below to follow along with the video. As in the video, the lowest possible inversion of Cmaj7 is played first from each string group.

The first line in the tab covers the E-string inversions, the second line in the tab covers the A-string inversions and the 3rd line in the tab covers the D-string inversions of the Cmaj7 Drop 2 chord.

E-string Drop 2 maj7 Inversions

Now for a visual aid, you can also view the shapes of the inversions below to help visualize the shapes of the maj7 inversions.

The chord charts below indicate the exact shape of the chord inversion. Because these shapes can be used for any maj7 chord, the fret number is not included. Instead, use the lowest note in the chord to line up the shape with the appropriate note.

For example, if you’d like to play an Fmaj7 and all of its inversions use the notes of Fmaj7, F (R), A (3rd), C (5th), E (7th) to line up the shapes on the fretboard.

A-String Drop 2 maj7 Inversions

These next shapes are the A-string maj7 Drop 2 chord inversions. Check out the previous tab and video examples to see how they work with a Cmaj7, but feel free to explore other keys.

D-String Drop 2 maj7 Inversions

Finally, a visual example of all the D-string maj7 inversions:

Major 7 Chords – Drop 3 Inversions



Moving on, it’s time to cover all of the Drop 3 inversions of the Cmaj7 chord. Drop 3 chords have a more open sound and work amazingly well when trying to create moving bass lines while comping. To learn more about Drop 3 chords you can also check out the Drop 3 chord page here.

The video below plays through each Drop 3 inversion of the Cmaj7 chord from lowest to highest starting on the E-string then moving across to the A-string.

Follow along with the video using the tab below, which also includes the inversion and spelling for each Cmaj7 Drop 3 chord.

E-string Drop 3 maj7 Inversions



For a visual example of each Drop 3 maj7 inversion, check out the chord charts below. The chord shapes do not correspond to any particular fret; they can be moved to any inversion of any chord quality you need. Just make sure you line up the notes appropriately (ie – if you’re building an Abmaj7 chord the Ab always needs to line up with R).

A-String Drop 3 maj7 inversions



Because Drop 3 chords require 5 strings to play, there are only 2 available string sets to be played. These A-string Drop 3 chords will be the last of the Drop 3 maj7 inversions to learn.

Major 7 Chords – Drop 2 and 4 Inversions



Drop 2 and 4 chords have become more and more prevalent in Jazz guitarists’ playing lately. The Drop 2 and 4 voicings provide a unique and open sound with a modern edge. To learn more about why Drop 2 and 4 chords are built the way they are, check out this page here.

Drop 2 and 4 chords can be quite the stretch, so make sure that you’ve warmed up before practicing them.

The video below runs through each inversion of the Cmaj7 Drop 2 and 4 chord starting from the lowest inversion on the E-string.

Follow along with the video using the tab below. The first line of the tab indicates the Cmaj7 Drop 2 and 4 inversions on the low E-string, whereas the second line of the tab covers the Cmaj7 Drop 2 and 4 chords from the A-string.

The same Drop 2 & 4 chords from the exercise above are listed below in chord grid form. These shapes have no fret numbers associated with them so that you may transpose them at will.

E-string Drop 2 and 4 maj7 Inversions



Each shape you learn below can be applied to any maj7 chord. Your task is to line up the root notes (or 3rd, 5th, 7th) with the correct notes in the given chord you’re playing. For example, if you wanted to play a Bbmaj7, find the Bb then build the root from the E-string or A-string in order to get the root positions shape.

If you want the second inversion of Bbmaj7 (Bmaj7/D), then determine the 3rd of Bbmaj7, D. Once you can find D on the E-string or A-string, build the corresponding 1st inversion chord shape from below to get a 1st inversion Bbmaj7 chord.

A-string Drop 2 and 4 maj7 Inversions



The last chords you may familiarize yourself with, before moving on to the chord studies, are the Drop 2 and 4 maj7 inversions below.

Common Chord Substitutions for Major 7 Chords

The major 7 chord can be used as a substitute for a number of different chords. Using Cmaj7 as an example again, you’ll work through a few chord substitution exercises.

The maj7 chord is often substituted for the min7 chord. Building a maj7 off of the b3 of a min7 chord will give you all the chord tones in the min7 (excluding the root) plus the 9th.

Am7 contains notes R-b3-5-b7 or A-C-E-G.

Cmaj7 contains notes R-3-5-7 or C-E-G-B.

Relative to the Am7, the notes in the Cmaj7 give you the b3 (C), 5 (E), b7 (G) and 9 (B). However, the biggest factor here is the sound. Listen to the video below to get a taste of the sound of the Cmaj7 substitution for an Am7 chord.

The next substitution you’ll work through is substituting a maj7 chord with another maj7 chord.

The Fmaj7 chord contains notes R-3-5-7 or F-A-C-E.

If you add the Cmaj7 chord to the 5th of the Fmaj7 chord you’ll get the following notes: C-E-G-B.

Relative to the Fmaj7 chord C, E, G, B are now tensions C(5), E(7), G(9), B(#11).

Play through the example below and listen carefully to the recording to hear this substitution in action.

To recap, if you build a maj7 chord off the 5th chord tone of another maj7 chord, you’ll get the maj7#11 sound.

Major 7 Chord Studies

This first exercise contains the chord progression Am7 – Dm7 – G7 – Cmaj7, or a VI – II – V – I progression. In the first 2 bars, you’ll play Cmaj7 as a substitution for Am7. Then, in bars 3-4 you’ll play Fmaj7 as a substitution for Dm7 in order to get the 9 of the Dm7. Finally, you’ll play the G7 chord with a few extensions including the 9 and 13, with G7#5 to top it off. Finally, you’ll resolve the progression with a Cmaj7 in root position.

This exercise will help familiarize you with the amazing possibilities in Jazz guitar comping with just a few substitutions and a little rhythm.

The next exercise is great for working on maj7 chord inversions. This exercise focuses on maj7 Drop 3 chords in one area of the guitar, but once you’re familiar with the idea you can apply the exercise to any chord type in any position.

The idea is to play through the cycle of 4ths, while performing the closest inversion of the next chord. When the Cmaj7 progresses to Fmaj7, the lowest note stays the same (C), but when the Fmaj7 progresses to Bbmaj7 the lowest note changes (and therefore the inversion as well) because there is no C in Bbmaj7. Instead of staying on the C, the Bbmaj7 chord moves up to D to reach Bbmaj7/D.

It will take a few plays through to really get comfy with the idea, but knowing this exercise will help you master chord inversions quickly!

Lastly, chord shapes can also be used to improvise. In the excerpt below, you’ll see that Drop 2 and 4 chords are being arpeggiated one note at a time to create a lick. Drop 2 and 4 chords are positioned openly across the fretboard, which gives them a very modern sound when played as a lick.

You’ll notice that an Em7 and Gmaj7 have been used to spice up the Cmaj7 based lick.

Em7 contains the notes E, G, B, D, which give the Cmaj7 the 3rd, 5th, 7th and 9th. The Gmaj7 is another substitution and contains the notes G, B, D, F#. Using G, B, D and F# over a Cmaj7 chord produces the 5th, 7th, 9th and #11 of Cmaj7.