Major 7th chord · D root
Dmaj7 chord
- D1
- F#3
- A5
- C#7
The D major 7th chord is built from the notes D, F#, A, C#. It turns up 1 times in the 90 songs on this site, including Best Part.
By Chiye · Updated
What is the Dmaj7 chord?
The Dmaj7 chord (D major 7th) is a major 7th chord built from four notes: D, F#, A, C# — the 1–3–5–7 of the D scale, 4 semitones and 7 semitones and 11 semitones above the root. On guitar it is most often played in open position (x-x-0-2-2-2) with 3 fretted strings while 1 string rings open and the low E string stays silent. It is rated intermediate. A soft, jazzy chord heard all over neo-soul and bossa. Across the 90 song sheets in this site's library, Dmaj7 appears 1 times in 1 song, most often in the key of D, and the chord it most often moves to is Am7. Below you will find step-by-step fingering, 3 positions up the neck, audio of every shape, and the real progressions this chord lives inside.
How do you play the Dmaj7 chord on guitar?
Open position — a movable shape, so this same fingering works for every root note.
- Lay your index finger flat across the G to high E strings at fret 2, rolled slightly onto its bony edge.
- Start your strum on the D string and leave the low E and A strings out.
Leave out the lowest fretted note (G string) and practise the remaining strings. The bass changes, and the upper strings may still need a smaller barre; check that the third and other colour tones stay clear. x-x-0-x-2-2
How do you make Dmaj7 sound clean?
Dmaj7 (x-x-0-2-2-2) keeps an open fourth string as its root, and the index at the 2nd fret usually flops onto it. Mute that string and the chord stops being a Dmaj7 in any meaningful sense.
Em7 → A → Dmaj7: the ii–V–I of D major, every one of them a page on this site. Land the Dmaj7 with the open fourth string still ringing.
In real songs
What songs use the Dmaj7 chord?
- chord changes
- 1
- songs
- 1
- common keys
- D
Across the 90 chord sheets on this site, Dmaj7 appears 1 time in 1 song — most often in the key of D.
Dmaj7Am7Gmaj7A#maj7
Chord flow
What chord comes after Dmaj7?
The counts come from our own song library — 1669 chord changes in total — which makes them a snapshot of real songs instead of a rule of thumb.
After Dmaj7, songs go to
- Am71×
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 Dmaj7 up the neck?
2 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 5 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 3 · 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 Dmaj7
Dmaj7 is spelled D – F# – A – C# — the 1 – 3 – 5 – 7 of the D 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.
Dmaj7 on other instruments
D – F# – A – C# — the highlighted black keys are the sharps or flats; play each note once, then move them into one hand position.
Take it to the practice room
