BY KATE KOENIG
Invite to the current installation of Chord by Chord, a series developed to build your understanding of consistency and the fretboard. In the last couple of lessons, I presented you to dominant seventh chords. This time, I’ll introduce you to a brand-new seventh chord, the significant seventh, known for its jazzy, advanced noise.
The Work
Whereas the C7 chord is a major triad with a flatted seventh, the Cmaj7 chord includes the triad plus the major seventh. So, bear in mind that a C significant triad consists of the root (C), third (E) and fifth (G), as shown in Example 1, and Cmaj7 just includes the seventh (B), like in Example 2.
Example 3a demonstrates how to make Cmaj7 from an open C chord– all you need to do is eliminate your first finger from the B string. Example 3b is based upon the very same C chord, however you add your fourth finger to string 3, fret 4. This more complex-sounding voicing is typically had fun with simply the notes on strings 2– 5.
Take things as much as 3rd position for instance 4, with its five-string barre shapes. Example 5a reveals a Cmaj7 chord stemmed from a six-note C chord at the 8th fret. Due to the fact that of its unusual noise, this Cmaj7 voicing is rarely heard. Try it instead with simply the bottom four strings, as shown in Example 5b. A standard jazz player may play this Cmaj7 with the notes on strings 6, 4, and 3, while muting string 5 with the underside of the first finger– a nice tidy voicing that can operate in any style.
Example 6a shows how to get to a Cmaj7 chord on the top 4 strings, and there’s a brighter-sounding option in Example 6b. This last Cmaj7 may be a little bit harder to play, as it needs a third-finger barre on the leading strings.
The Outcome
You must now understand how a major seventh chord is constructed and how to make Cmaj7 from numerous C significant shapes. A fantastic tune that uses the Cmaj7 chord is Joni Mitchell’s “Coyote”– one of my own favorites. Next time you’ll work more on the major seventh chord, utilizing G and Gmaj7 voicings.
