Chords
C# Major seventh
C# · E# · G# · B#
The major seventh chord — a major triad with a major seventh. Lush, settled, and unmistakably modern.
Also written C#Δ · C#Δ7 · C#△ · C#△7 · C#ma7 · C#M7 · C#Maj7 · C#^7
C# Major seventh
C# · E# · G# · B#
Voicings on the piano
| Voicing | Notes | Play it on your instrument |
|---|---|---|
| Closed, root position | C#3 · E#3 · G#3 · B#4 | |
| Open (drop 2) | G#2 · C#3 · E#3 · B#4 | |
| Shell | C#3 · E#3 · B#4 | |
| Rootless | E#3 · G#3 · B#3 · D#4 |
Tap a key or a fret to hear it.
Anatomy
C# Major seventh (C#maj7) contains the notes C# · E# · G# · B#, each with a role measured as an interval from the root.
Read on: how triads are built · seventh chords
Inversions
An inversion of C# Major seventh puts a chord tone other than C# in the bass; the name after the slash is that bass note.
Where it lives
The keys and the scales C# Major seventh belongs to.
In which keys
C# Major seventh is diatonic to 4 keys; the numeral is its degree and the label its harmonic function.
Scales that contain it
C# Major seventh fits inside these scales, each built on C#.
- C# MajorC# · D# · E# · F# · G# · A# · B#
- C# Harmonic MajorC# · D# · E# · F# · G# · A · B#
- C# Ionian PentatonicC# · E# · F# · G# · B#
- C# Double Harmonic MajorC# · D · E# · F# · G# · A · B#
- C# BebopC# · D# · E# · F# · G# · A# · B · B#
- C# IchikosuchoC# · D# · E# · F# · G · G# · A# · B#
- C# Kafi RagaC# · E · E# · F# · G# · A# · B · B#
Understanding the C# Major seventh chord
Names and symbols
C#maj7 is the chord symbol for C# Major seventh; it is also written C#Δ, C#Δ7, C#△, C#△7, C#ma7, C#M7, C#Maj7, C#^7.
maj7, M7, Δ7, ma7 and ^7 all mean the major seventh. A lowercase m7 is a different chord, the minor seventh, so the capital letter and the triangle are the only things keeping the two apart on a chart.
C# Major seventh and Db Major seventh are the same sound spelled two ways; both have a page here, and each links to the other. Db Major seventh
How it is built
On C# it is C# · E# · G# · B#, stacking 1P · 3M · 5P · 7M. The seventh sits one semitone below the octave, which is a sharp dissonance in isolation and pure colour once the third and fifth sit between them.
How it is used
Unlike the dominant seventh it contains no tritone, so it does not demand resolution. That is why it works as a resting chord — the I of a jazz standard, the tonic of a bossa nova, the final chord that sounds finished without sounding plain.
It is the sound of bossa nova, neo-soul and a great deal of film romance. Put it on the IV as well as the I and you have most of what makes a progression sound sophisticated rather than folk.
Learn this properly
Chapter 10: Chords: Triads and SeventhsCommon questions
- What notes are in C#maj7?
- C#maj7 contains C# · E# · G# · B#. Name any set of notes with the chord identifier.
- What is the difference between C#maj7 and a dominant seventh on the same root?
- The seventh. A major seventh is eleven semitones above the root; a dominant seventh is ten. That one semitone is the difference between resting and resolving.
- Why does a maj7 sound jazzy?
- It adds colour without demanding resolution, so a progression can sit on it. That combination of richness and stability is central to the jazz and bossa vocabulary.
- What notes are in the C# Major seventh chord?
- The C# Major seventh chord contains the notes C# · E# · G# · B#: the root C# with the intervals 1P, 3M, 5P, 7M stacked above it. Play them together for the chord or one after another for an arpeggio. The lowest note is normally C#, but any chord tone can take the bass in an inversion.
- What intervals make up the C# Major seventh chord?
- Measured from C#, the C# Major seventh chord stacks the intervals 1P, 3M, 5P, 7M. The quality of the third and of the seventh, if there is one, is what gives the chord its character; the rest of the notes colour it. Every interval in the formula links to its own page, with its sound.