Major 7th chord · C root
Cmaj7 chord
- C1
- E3
- G5
- B7
The C major 7th chord is built from the notes C, E, G, B. It turns up 9 times in the 80 songs on this site, including Fly Me to the Moon and Imagine.
By Chiye · Updated
What is the Cmaj7 chord?
The Cmaj7 chord (C major 7th) is a major 7th chord built from four notes: C, E, G, B — the 1–3–5–7 of the C scale, 4 semitones and 7 semitones and 11 semitones above the root. On guitar it is most often played in open position (x-3-2-0-0-0) with 2 fingers while 3 strings ring open and the low E string stays silent. It is rated beginner — most players learn it in their first weeks. A soft, jazzy chord heard all over neo-soul and bossa. It is one of the most-used chords in this site's library: across the 80 song sheets charted here, Cmaj7 appears 9 times in 3 songs, most often in the key of C, and the chord it most often moves to is C7. Below you will find step-by-step fingering, 4 positions up the neck, audio of every shape, and the real progressions this chord lives inside.
How do you play the Cmaj7 chord on guitar?
Open position — the easiest version of Cmaj7 on the guitar.
- Press the A string at fret 3 with your ring finger.
- Press the D string at fret 2 with your middle finger.
- Start your strum on the A string and do not play the low E string at all.
The x mark is part of the shape, not an accident: the chord only sounds right when low E stays silent. Instead of aiming your pick around that string, let the string next to it rest on it and damp it. x-3-2-0-0-0
How do you make Cmaj7 sound clean?
It is C with the index finger removed — and yet beginners re-grip the whole chord. Only one finger moves; the rest stay put.
C → Cmaj7 → C walks the index finger off and on. The smoothest chord exercise on the guitar.
In real songs
What songs use the Cmaj7 chord?
- chord changes
- 9
- songs
- 3
- common keys
- C
Across the 80 chord sheets on this site, Cmaj7 appears 9 times in 3 songs — most often in the key of C.
Am7Dm7G7Cmaj7
Am7Dm7G7Cmaj7
Dm7G7Cmaj7A7
Chord flow
What chord comes after Cmaj7?
Those figures are counted from the 80 chord sheets on this site, so they describe what songwriters actually played rather than what theory says should come next.
Three-chord moves
Three-chord moves are where a chord really shows its character. These are the ones that actually happen in this library, counted from the sheets:
What other ways can you play Cmaj7 up the neck?
3 more positions below. Learn one of these well and the rest become optional. The value of a second position is practical: it keeps your fretting hand near where the song is already heading.
Position 2 · Fret 3 barre
Because nothing rings open, you can move this whole shape to any fret and it keeps the same quality — only the letter name changes.
A single bar covers the rest of the strings here. If the inside strings stay dead, move the bar a millimetre closer to the fret wire before you try pressing harder.
Position 3 · Fret 8 barre
Every note here is fretted, which means the shape transposes anywhere on the neck without changing your fingers.
The barre is the only hard part of this shape. Keep the bar finger straight and use the weight of your arm rather than the grip of your thumb.
Position 4 · Fret 10 barre
No open strings, so this is a movable shape: slide it up or down and the same fingering gives you a different chord name.
One bar does most of the work. Roll that finger onto its bony edge and pull the elbow slightly in — a barre that buzzes is almost always a position problem, not a strength problem.
The theory behind Cmaj7
Cmaj7 is spelled C – E – G – B — the 1 – 3 – 5 – 7 of the C scale, which is the root plus 4 semitones, 7 semitones, 11 semitones. A soft, jazzy chord heard all over neo-soul and bossa.
The major seventh sits a semitone under the octave, which is why it sounds soft rather than tense. On guitar it is usually the highest fretted note, so it is also the first note to disappear if your finger rolls off.
Cmaj7 on other instruments
0 0 0 2
The same chord on four strings in standard tuning. Because the uke is tuned higher, this shape sits at a different place on the neck than its guitar equivalent — useful when arranging for both instruments.
C – E – G – B — all white keys, so you can find the shape by counting up from C.
Take it to the practice room
