Little Chord structure help please...

[Ohioarrow]

Could any of you fine folks out there identify this chord?

 

x35453

 

Does it have a proper name? And if it does how do you arrive at that name? I ask the latter so I don't ask any more stupid questions like this.

 

I arrived at the chord by accident, dooddling around with an original piece. Thought it sounded cool. Then I shuffled through all my chord charts and can't seem to find it.

 

I get the feeling I am going to feel silly when someone blurts out an answer that I should have known.

[gthom]

Cmaj7. Think of it as an A-shaped C barre-chord - x35553 - then you're dropping the C on the 3rd string 1/2 step, which is the major 7th tone (B). So the notes are C-G-B-E-G (I-V-majVII-III-V).

[totamus]

C6?

[Cymro#1]

Yes...definitely a Cmaj7th

[Cymro#1]

Great shape because you can slide it up or down sharpen or flatten as you wish. Can't do that on the normal 332xxx position.

[Cymro#1]

Actually it sounds better if you play the bottom G note as well. It gives the chord a fuller sound.

[totamus]

It sounds like a 6th when I play it. Very haunting/jazzy feel. But you are both correct. From Jguitar.com:

 

[driverhasabomb]

You could play X32203 if you want to add the 6th. Gives it a bit more color than a perfect 5th

[Ohioarrow]

Ok, I got confused on this EasyChord utility tool. I thought C7 was a "C major 7th" - but look down the list a little and it does have a predefined Cmaj7 with that shape defined.

 

So C7 at the 3rd fret is:

x35353

 

and Cmaj7 at the 3rd is:

x35453

 

That kind of changes my perspective on things a little because I always thought that without a modifier (like m/dim/sus/etc) a stand alone C (and other base notes) was understood to be a major.

[Cymro#1]

That's it you need to play the b on the G string to make it a Cmaj 7th chord.

[Cymro#1]

If you also play the low e note as well that gives it a jazzy feel - if you play the g note on the bottom e string - that works as well.

[gthom]

 

That kind of changes my perspective on things a little because I always thought that without a modifier (like m/dim/sus/etc) a stand alone C (and other base notes) was understood to be a major.

 

 

[warning - I am not a music theorist, this is a lay musician's understanding which may or may not be correct]

 

I'm not sure if this is where your confusion was, but the sort of confusing thing about major 7ths vs. regular (often called dominant) 7ths is that both contain the major triad (I-III-V) of the chord...but in the dominant 7th chord the '7 note' is actually minor.

 

So if you're doing it with C as your root you have C-E-G-Bb for a C7 chord (the 7 is Bb), whereas for Cmaj7 you have C-E-G-B (the 7 is B natural).

 

Not to confuse further, but in the min7 chord (eg Cmin7) the 'min' refers to the 3rd, meaning you're using the C minor triad (C-Eb-G) along with the dominant 7 (Bb).

 

At least, that's how I think of it...typically 7 chords are dominants and when you're building onto 7ths (9ths, 11ths, 13ths), you're using the dominant 7 (eg Bb in the key of C) unless that 'maj' or a triangle (also symbolizing a major 7th tone) is floating around. So, C9 = C-E-G-Bb-D whereas Cmaj9 = C-E-G-B-D.

[driverhasabomb]

 

At least, that's how I think of it...typically 7 chords are dominants and when you're building onto 7ths (9ths, 11ths, 13ths), you're using the dominant 7 (eg Bb in the key of C) unless that 'maj' or a triangle (also symbolizing a major 7th tone) is floating around. So, C9 = C-E-G-Bb-D whereas Cmaj9 = C-E-G-B-D.

 

 

Yep you're right on the money. Unless the 7th has a modifier of some sort it's assumed to be flat.

[Ohioarrow]

 

I'm not sure if this is where your confusion was, but the sort of confusing thing about major 7ths vs. regular (often called dominant) 7ths is that both contain the major triad (I-III-V) of the chord...but in the dominant 7th chord the '7 note' is actually minor. So if you're doing it with C as your root you have C-E-G-Bb for a C7 chord (the 7 is Bb), whereas for Cmaj7 you have C-E-G-B (the 7 is B natural). Not to confuse further, but in the min7 chord (eg Cmin7) the 'min' refers to the 3rd, meaning you're using the C minor triad (C-Eb-G) along with the dominant 7 (Bb). At least, that's how I think of it...typically 7 chords are dominants and when you're building onto 7ths (9ths, 11ths, 13ths), you're using the dominant 7 (eg Bb in the key of C) unless that 'maj' or a triangle (also symbolizing a major 7th tone) is floating around. So, C9 = C-E-G-Bb-D whereas Cmaj9 = C-E-G-B-D.

 

 

That's exactly where my confusion was.

 

What I do not know about music theory would fill a book. Learn something new every day.

 

Much appreciated.

[fmw]

As others have said, this is a Cmaj7 chord with the root on the 5th or A string. It is one of the three most popular of the maj7 chord forms. A 1-4 chord progression becomes easy to play from this position. You just the move three fingers up a string to get an F7.

 

You can also include the sixth string in the chord because it has the 5th note of the scale or G in this case. So you can play on the lower strings for a bassier tone or on the higher strings for a more piercing tone or all six strings if it suits your fancy.

 

The Maj7 chords are very, very common in jazz. They are often subsituted for tonic major chords.

[Bubbalou]

 

That's exactly where my confusion was. What I do not know about music theory would fill a book. Learn something new every day. Much appreciated.

 

 

I am with you there

I play mainly by ear and really need to learn some of this stuff.

[Jimmy Chaos]

One of my favorite chords... sounds great.

[Stackabones]

 

The Maj7 chords are very, very common in jazz. They are often subsituted for tonic major chords.

 

 

For the bop guys it is, but for the swing cats and earlier the 6 chord was much more common. Nowadays you do whatever suits your fancy. I like the 6 chord, but it depends on the melody note.

[guit30]

i love that chord, we need more threads like this

J

[riffmeister]

Cmaj7 is a 4-note chord.

 

Here are the four inversions played on strings 6/4/3/2:

 

3-X-2-4-1-X

 

7-X-5-5-5-X

 

8-X-9-9-8-X (most popular because it has the root in the bass)

 

12-X-10-12-12-X

[Krash]

Pro Tab has a chord dictionary in the Tools section with a lookup feature that lets you fill in a chord diagram and it comes back with the name(s) of the chord. In this case, it has 10 names for the chord, including Cmaj7. It gives you 40 voicings for Cmaj7. Far and away the best chord reference I've ever used.

[Chip Stewart]

Another great website for figuring out the names of chords is www.all-guitar-chords.com.