What is a Major 7th (maj7) Chord?

If you're looking for a pretty sounding variation to your major chords, allow me to introduce you to the major 7th chord (sometimes written "maj7", "M7", and several other ways). It sounds pretty cool, a very relaxed chord on most occasions (at least, that's how I think of it).

To play a major 7th chord, we play the 1st, 3rd, 5th, and 7th note of a major scale. It's only one note different from the 1st, 3rd, and 5th note we use for the major chord. Adding that 7th really adds a cool dimension to the chord though.

An A major scale is: A B C# D E F# G# A, so an Amaj7 chord would be: ACEG#
An F# major scale is: F# G# A# B C# D# E# F#, so an F#maj7 chord would be: F#AC#E# (an "E#" is the same pitch as an "F")
A G major scale is: G A B C D E F# G, so a Gmaj7 chord would be G B D F#

Major 7th chords can be found in many styles of music, including pop, rock, jazz. One great example of a song with major 7 chords is David Bowie's "Space Oddity", or Oasis' "Half the World Away". Like the minor 7th chord (which I posted about here), they tend not to work very well with heavily distorted guitars, so they're not as common in really heavy rock or heavy metal, but there are exceptions (none that I can think of right now, mind you).

Major 7 chords are definitely worth knowing and adding to your musical vocabulary. The easiest way to play one on guitar is to play your open C chord without the first finger. That turns the C into a B on your B-string, which then gives you CEGB, the four notes needed for a major 7th chord.

There are a variety of ways to play major 7th chords, which I will talk about in the future.