MAJOR SEVENTH Chord (M7): 1-3-5-7
WHAT'S IT SOUND LIKE?--Some Easy Open Forms:
AM7 CM7 DM7
x o o x o o o x x o
+--+--+--+--+--+ +--+--+--+--+--+ +--+--+--+--+--+
+--+--+--+--+--+ +--+--+--+--+--+ +--+--+--+--+--+
| | | [1] | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
+--+--+--+--+--+ +--+--+--+--+--+ +--+--+--+--+--+
| | [2] | [3] | | | [2] | | | | | | [1][1][1]
+--+--+--+--+--+ +--+--+--+--+--+ +--+--+--+--+--+
| | | | | | | [3] | | | | | | | | | |
+--+--+--+--+--+ +--+--+--+--+--+ +--+--+--+--+--+
FM7 GM7
x x o x o o
+--+--+--+--+--+ +--+--+--+--+--+
+--+--+--+--+--+ +--+--+--+--+--+
| | | | [1] | | | | | | |
+--+--+--+--+--+ +--+--+--+--+--+
| | | [2] | | | | | | | [1]
+--+--+--+--+--+ +--+--+--+--+--+
| | [3] | | | [2] | | | [3] |
+--+--+--+--+--+ +--+--+--+--+--+
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Position 5 |
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| Voicing Examples for Each Position
(non-bold #'s are optional!) |
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- Most Common Uses
- IM7, IVM7; bVIM7, bIIIM7
- Important Homonym Relationships
- M7 =
- _ii_13sus4 (no root,5th)
e.g.: CM7 = D13sus4 (no root,5th)
[iii/b13]
e.g.: CM7 = Em/b13
IVM9+11 (no root,3rd)
e.g.: CM7 = FM9+11 (no root,3rd)
vi9 (no root)
e.g.: CM7 = Am9 (no root)
- M7 (no root) = iii
e.g.: CM7 (no root) = Em
- M7 (no 3rd) =
- vi9 (no root, 5th)
e.g.: CM7 (no 3rd) = Am9 (no root,5th)
- M7 (no 5th) =
- _ii_13 (no root,3rd,5th)
e.g.: CM7 (no 5th) = D13 or Dm13 (no root,3rd,5th)
vi/9 (no root)
e.g.: CM7 (no 5th) = Am/9 (no root)
- M7 (no 7th) = M (see there)
- Further Notes
- Sophisticated, plaintive--just plain beautiful, if somewhat overused nowadays.
Note that the M7 chord with no 3rd or no 5th doesn't "reduce" to
a triadic homonym and so still sounds like a "valid" M7, especially
in the root position. Feel free, then, to experiment with such tonal omissions.
For example, the formulae 137--, -137--, and ---137 are all quite common
voicings of the M7 chord.
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