This week's Guitar Chord Of The Week is a minor major seventh chord. This chord is a variation on a minor seventh chord. Use it in place of standard minor chords to give your own progressions an unusual and interesting sound.
Various chord symbols can be used for the minor major seventh chord, including: m(maj7), mM7, -(maj7), min(maj7).
Read on to find out how to use this chord in your own music, and how to play it in example chord sequences...
Minor Major Seventh Chord Guitar
The blue note on the chord diagram shows the root note of the chord. Because it is a movable chord shape, it can be moved up and down the guitar neck to play a minor major seventh chord with any root.
Therefore, if the shape is played at the third fret then the resulting chord would be a C minor major seventh. This is how it would be notated:
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How To Play The Major Minor Seventh Chord On Guitar
The major minor seventh chord can be played as shown in the diagram at the top of this page. An alternative fingering is shown below. This requires the second (middle) finger to play notes on two strings at once with a kind of 'mini barre' over the second and third strings.
This technique is used to play many other jazz guitar chords. It is performed by laying the pad of the fingertip between the strings, and bending the finger back slightly so the the pad covers both strings. It is easier to do on an electric guitar than on an acoustic instrument.
Min/Maj7 chords can also be played as a standard barre chord. In this version the top string is played:
Construction Of Min (Maj7) Chords
The minor major seventh chord is a minor triad to which the major seventh has been added. This means that it is the same as a minor seventh chord but with a major seventh, rather than a minor seventh (i.e. the minor seventh note is raised a half-note). Compare both of these chords by playing the shapes below:
The minor/major seventh chord is the seventh chord formed from the tonic note of the harmonic minor scale. Therefore, it can often be used as a substitution for the i chord in minor chord sequences.
Notes In C Harmonic Minor Scale:
C, D, Eb, F, G, Ab, B, C
Notes In C Minor Major Seventh Chord:
C, Eb, G, B
Example Sequence:
Below is a jazz chord progression in C minor. The minor major seventh chord has been used as the i chord, giving the progression a more exotic sound. Notice how the minor 7th chord in the second bar can be played simply by moving the min(maj7) shape over to the next string.
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We hope that you have enjoyed playing this chord, and are finding uses for it in your own music. If you are interested in jazz theory, check out the Wikipedia page. Are there any chords you think we should feature in Guitar Chord Of The Week? Let us know in the comments below!
