How to play Cmaj7 (C Maj7) on Guitar

Cmaj7 is the C maj7 chord. It is built from 4 notes — C, E, G and B — which sit at the root, major third, perfect fifth and major seventh above the root C. Written as a formula that is 1P – 3M – 5P – 7M. Those intervals, not the note names, are what give the chord its character: move all of them to a different root and you still hear a maj7 chord.

Cmaj7 on guitar is an open shape — 3 strings ring open while 2 are fretted, the shape spans 2 frets, 1 string is muted and should not sound — damp it with the underside of a fretting finger. Open strings do a lot of the work here, which is why this shape sounds fuller than the effort it takes. Arch your fingers so each one lands on its fingertip — a finger leaning flat will deaden the open string next to it, and a single muted string is the most common reason a beginner's chord sounds wrong when the fingering is in fact correct.

The major third between C and E is what makes this chord sound bright and settled. Flatten that one note by a semitone and you have C minor instead — a single semitone is the whole distance between the two moods. The added major seventh stops the chord from sounding like a resting place — it leans forward and wants to resolve, which is exactly why it turns up at the end of a phrase rather than the start.

Cmaj7 belongs to 2 major keys, including C major, where it is the I chord and G major, where it is the IV chord. That is the practical reason to learn it: a chord that is diatonic to several keys turns up constantly, and knowing which degree it occupies tells you what tends to come next. A I chord in C major most often moves toward the tonic, so practising Cmaj7 in the context of C will teach you more than practising it in isolation.