Sevenths
A♭ major 7th chord
Lush and mellow — a signature sound of jazz, soul and bossa nova.
A♭maj7 is the Imaj7 chord in A♭ major and IVmaj7 in E♭ major. In minor keys: IIImaj7 in F minor and VImaj7 in C minor.
- Notes
- A♭CE♭G
- Formula
- 1357
- Built from
- root · major 3rd · perfect 5th · major 7th
How to play A♭maj7
About the A♭ major 7th chord
A♭maj7 is the IVmaj7 of E♭ and the Imaj7 of A♭ — soft and warm, common in ballads and jazz.
Playing it
On guitar, A♭maj7 is most often played as a barre chord across the 4th fret (465544).
On piano, A♭maj7 has two black keys (A♭ and E♭) and two white keys.
On ukulele the usual A♭maj7 shape is 0043, using two fingers.
Related chords
Take away the root and the other three notes form Cm (C E♭ G) — so you can think of A♭maj7 as Cm with A♭ added underneath.
Move a single note and A♭maj7 becomes a different chord: drop the G for A♭, lower G to G♭ for A♭7, swap G for F for A♭6 and swap G for B♭ for A♭add9.
Where you’ll hear it
You’ll find A♭maj7 in common progressions such as B♭m7–E♭7–A♭maj7 (the jazz cadence in A♭ major).
