C#maj7 guitar chord

3rd inversion · B# in the bass
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About C#maj7 — uncommon voicings

C#maj7 is C#, E#, G# and B#. It keeps the triad and adds the , one fret below the root.

That half step against the root is the chord’s defining sound. Compare with C#maj7 to isolate it.

Hear the change

One repeated root moves down one fret to the major seventh. The other notes stay the same.

At the end of a jazz ii–V–I, C#maj7 can be the home chord. The 3rd of can stay in place as the major 7th of C#maj7.

Also written C#M7, C#Δ7, C#Δ, C#ma7 or C# major 7.

C#maj7 uncommon guitar chord diagram: C#, E#, G#, B#, played x3312x
C#maj7 uncommon guitar chord voicing: x-3-3-1-2-x.

What these less common shapes are

How to use C#maj7

1Where a ii–V–I comes home

I in C♯ major

C#maj7 is the home chord of C♯ major, where a ii–V–I comes to rest. The dominant’s leading tone doesn’t have to rise to the root: on a major seventh it can stay where it is.

Compare with

Listen for: The ii’s seventh falls a half step to the dominant’s third, which holds over the barline as the major seventh.

2Through the back door

I in C♯ major

C#maj7 can be reached without its V: from F#m7 and B7, the ii–V of the key a minor third higher. Instead of a leading tone rising into the root, the key’s flat sixth falls a half step to the fifth.

Listen for: The key’s flat sixth holds through the first two chords, then falls a half step to the fifth of the I.

Other uses

From the books, without a worked example
  • A turnaround of major sevenths
    I in C♯ major

    A common form of the Tad Dameron turnaround plays every chord as a major seventh, each one where a dominant would be: C#maj7, Emaj7, Amaj7, Dmaj7, and back.

    1. C#maj7
    2. Emaj7
    3. Amaj7
    4. Dmaj7

In which keys. Every note of C#maj7 belongs to C# major, F minor, Ab major and Bb minor.

What to play over C#maj7

Useful scales

  • +D#F#A#

    Contains C#maj7 and adds ninth, eleventh and thirteenth.

  • +D#GA#

    Contains C#maj7 and adds ninth, sharp eleventh and thirteenth.

Every scale

Chords near C#maj7

Remove a note

  • 2nd inversion
    2nd inversion
    − B#

    Remove the major seventh.

    See C# chord →

Change one note

Add a note

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.

Midi Settings

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One pass of the pick from the lowest string up, everything left ringing.
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Style

Shows each chord the way this style would voice it, and marks which of its alternatives belong to the idiom.

Layout

Left Handed Mode