Major 7th chords are bright-sounding and versatile. They can be used in jazz, indie and just about every other kind of music. This week's Guitar Chord Of The Week is a full-sounding major seventh chord that requires the use of the thumb to play the root note.
Read on to find out out how play this chord and use it in an example progression...
Major 7th Thumb Bass Chord
Although most guitar teachers frown at the use of the thumb on the fingerboard, occasionally it is necessary. It's not pretty, and is quite awkward to do, but to play all of the notes in chords like this major seventh shape, the thumb does have to be brought into use.
As you can see from the diagram above, the thumb is used to play the root note of the chord on the 6th (bottom E) string.
There is no great mystery to this technique; simply rotate the hand around the fretboard so that the thumb can fret the note.
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Once you are fretting the chord, play each of the strings individually (omitting the 5th sting) to ensure that all of the notes are sounding clearly. The fifth (A) string is not played in this chord. You can use the tip of the thumb to dampen it: this isn't as hard as it sounds.
Alternative Version
Alternatively, don't use the thumb at all! This chord still sounds great even if you just play the top four strings. The alternative version is shown below:
Notes In Major 7th Chords
Major 7th chords contain a major triad plus the major seventh note. Therefore, a C major 7th chord contains the notes: C, E, G and B. Notation for a C major 7th chord is shown below.
You can use major 7th chords in place of normal major chords. Try using this shape in one of your own songs.
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Example Chord Sequence
Practice playing the Major 7th Thumb Root Shape with the example chord progression below. Play it at a moderate tempo with a clean 'jangly' guitar sound - perhaps with a bit of chorus. Alternatively, you could arpeggiate the chords; major sevenths sound very good played this way.
We hope you enjoy playing this chord and are finding places to use it in your own music. Check out last week's Chord Of The Week here.
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