Sevenths
G major 7th chord
Lush and mellow — a signature sound of jazz, soul and bossa nova.
Gmaj7 is the Imaj7 chord in G major and IVmaj7 in D major. In minor keys: IIImaj7 in E minor and VImaj7 in B minor.
- Notes
- GBDF♯
- Formula
- 1357
- Built from
- root · major 3rd · perfect 5th · major 7th
How to play Gmaj7
About the G major 7th chord
Gmaj7 is the IVmaj7 of D and the Imaj7 of G — a relaxed chord common in folk, soft rock and jazz.
Playing it
On guitar, Gmaj7 has an open-position shape, 324003, using four fingers alongside the open strings.
On piano, Gmaj7 has one black key (F♯) and three white keys.
On ukulele the usual Gmaj7 shape is 0222, with a small 3-string barre at the 2nd fret.
Related chords
Take away the root and the other three notes form Bm (B D F♯) — so you can think of Gmaj7 as Bm with G added underneath.
Move a single note and Gmaj7 becomes a different chord: drop the F♯ for G, lower F♯ to F for G7, swap F♯ for E for G6 and swap F♯ for A for Gadd9.
Where you’ll hear it
You’ll find Gmaj7 in common progressions such as Am7–D7–Gmaj7 (the jazz cadence in G major).
