Cmaj7 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 Cmaj7 — 2nd inversion
Cmaj7 is C, E, G and B — C 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.
Cmaj7 notes and formula
| C | E | G | B |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | 5 | 7 |
Also written CM7, CΔ7, CΔ, Cma7 or C major 7. The same chord either way; which spelling you meet depends on who wrote the chart.
How to play Cmaj7
Cmaj7 in 2nd inversion puts G in the bass instead of C, the 5th of the chord. The notes are the same; what changes is what the bass line does, which is most of why you would reach for it — it lets the lowest voice move by step where the root would have jumped.
One of Cmaj7’s 8 common shapes does this:xx5557
Play Cmaj7 as a shell — root, third and seventh — and the spare string takes the 9 (D), the #11 (F#) or the 13 (A).
All 8 common shapes as fret numbers, lowest string first. Hover or tap one to see it drawn.
- x32000, open position, C, root position, top note E, 3 open strings
- x3241x, 1st fret, C, root position, top note C, all fretted
- x35453, 3rd fret, C, root position, top note G, all fretted
- xxx557, 5th fret, C, root position, top note B, all fretted
- xx5557, 5th fret, G, 2nd inversion, top note B, barred
- 8-10-9-9-8-8, 8th fret, C, root position, top note C, barred
- x-x-10-12-12-12, 10th fret, C, root position, top note E, barred
- x-15-14-12-12-12, 12th fret, C, root position, top note E, barred
How to use Cmaj7
How you get to it. The turn that lands on Cmaj7 is Dm7 to G7 — the ii and the V of C — and G7 shares its third and seventh with Dm7, so the hand barely moves between them.
In which keys. Every note of Cmaj7 belongs to C major (the I, the tonic), E minor (the ♭VI), G major (the IV, the subdominant) and A minor (the ♭III).
What to play over Cmaj7
Every note of Cmaj7 is in C major and C lydian.
Chords near Cmaj7
Change one note of Cmaj7 and you have C (drop the major seventh), Cmaj7b5 (the fifth becomes the flat fifth), Cmaj7#5 (the fifth becomes the sharp fifth), Cmaj9 (add the ninth), CmMaj7 (the major third becomes the minor third) or Cadd9 (the major seventh becomes the ninth).
Cmaj7 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.