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] |
+--+--+--+--+--+    +--+--+--+--+--+


Position I



Position 2



Position 3



Position 4



Position 5
| | | | | |



1 | | | 5 1



| | | | | |



| | | | 1 |



5 1 | | | 5
7 3 | | | 7



| | 7 3 | |



3 | | 5 7 3



| 7 3 | | |



| | | 7 | |
1 | | | 5 1



| 5 1 | | |



| | | | 1 |



5 1 | | | 5



| | 5 1 3 |
| | 7 3 | |



| | | | | |



| 7 3 | | |



| | | 7 | |



| | | | | |
| 5 1 | | |



3 | | 5 7 3



5 1 | | | 5



| | 5 1 3 |



7 3 | | | 7
| | | | | |



| | | | 1 |



| | | 7 | |



| | | | | |



1 | | | 5 1
3 | | 5 7 3



| 7 3 | | |



| | 5 1 3 |



7 3 | | | 7



| | 7 3 | |

Voicing Examples for Each Position (non-bold #'s are optional!)
1 5 7 3 - -



3 5 1 5 7 -



5 1 3 7 - -



5 1 5 7 3 5



7 - 5 1 3 -
1 5 - 3 7 3



3 7 1 5 - -



- 7 - 5 1 3



- 1 5 7 3 5



- 3 5 1 3 7
1 - 7 3 5 -



3 - 1 5 7 3



- 1 3 5 7 3



- 1 5 1 3 7



- 3 - 1 5 7
- - 1 3 5 7



- - 1 5 7 3



- - 3 7 1 5



- 1 - 7 3 5



- - 5 1 3 7


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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