Major Seventh Chords
Major 7th chords consist of the I - III - V - VII notes of the major scale. Thus Fmaj7 will contain the notes F A C E. The root 6 major 7 chords cannot be regarded as a bar chord, since the first finger is not barring all strings. You will notice from the photos that the first finger is actually curved, so that it plays the 6th string, and deadens the 5th and 1st strings.
Rhythm Pattern
Bbmaj7
This root 5 major 7th shape is derived from the open Amaj7 chord. Try the following example, using a combination of root 6 and root 5 major 7th chords:
Rhythm Pattern
The basic progression used in this example involves a pattern of fourths; i.e., Fmaj7 is a fourth higher than C, Bbmaj7 is a fourth higher than F and so on:
Cmaj7 - Fmaj7 - Bbmaj7 - Ebmaj 7 - Abmaj7 - Dbmaj7 - Gbmaj7 - Cbmaj7
This concept of progressing in fourths is particularly common with major 7th chords.
* This is the same as Bmaj7.
