Amaj7 guitar chord
The standard grips this chord is usually shown with.
- Tap a note to hear it
- Arrows change position
- Fingers, notes or intervals
- Play the chord
About Amaj7 — root position
Amaj7 is A, C#, E and G# — A with the major seventh added on top.
It sounds lush, and only just resolved. The everyday tonic of jazz, bossa and neo-soul.
Tonic — a resting chord, but a soft one.
Amaj7 notes and formula
| A | C# | E | G# |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | 5 | 7 |
Also written AM7, AΔ7, AΔ, Ama7 or A major 7. The same chord either way; which spelling you meet depends on who wrote the chart.
How to play Amaj7
Amaj7 in root position puts A in the bass, which is the chord as it is spelled: the note it is named after underneath everything else.
9 of Amaj7’s 10 common shapes do this:x02120x02224xxx224576655x07999xx7999x-12-11-9-9-9x-12-11-13-10-xx-12-14-13-14-12
Play Amaj7 as a shell — root, third and seventh — and the spare string takes the 9 (B), the #11 (D#) or the 13 (F#).
All 10 common shapes as fret numbers, lowest string first. Hover or tap one to see it drawn.
- x02120, open position, A, root position, top note E, 2 open strings
- x02224, open position, A, root position, top note G#, barred
- xxx224, 2nd fret, A, root position, top note G#, all fretted
- xx2224, 2nd fret, E, 2nd inversion, top note G#, barred
- 576655, 5th fret, A, root position, top note A, barred
- x07999, 7th fret, A, root position, top note C#, barred
- xx7999, 7th fret, A, root position, top note C#, barred
- x-12-11-9-9-9, 9th fret, A, root position, top note C#, barred
- x-12-11-13-10-x, 10th fret, A, root position, top note A, all fretted
- x-12-14-13-14-12, 12th fret, A, root position, top note E, all fretted
How to use Amaj7
How you get to it. The turn that lands on Amaj7 is Bm7 to E7 — the ii and the V of A — and E7 shares its third and seventh with Bm7, so the hand barely moves between them.
In which keys. Every note of Amaj7 belongs to C# minor (the ♭VI), E major (the IV, the subdominant), F# minor (the ♭III) and A major (the I, the tonic).
What to play over Amaj7
Every note of Amaj7 is in A major and A lydian.
Chords near Amaj7
Change one note of Amaj7 and you have A (drop the major seventh), Amaj7b5 (the fifth becomes the flat fifth), Amaj7#5 (the fifth becomes the sharp fifth), Amaj9 (add the ninth), AmMaj7 (the major third becomes the minor third) or Aadd9 (the major seventh becomes the ninth).
Amaj7 is a major chord — root, major third, fifth. Major chords on every root.
The common shapes and the derived voicings come from different places, and both are explained in how this site is built.