Sevenths
G♯ major 7th chord
Lush and mellow — a signature sound of jazz, soul and bossa nova.
G♯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
- G♯B♯D♯F𝄪
- Formula
- 1357
- Built from
- root · major 3rd · perfect 5th · major 7th
How to play G♯maj7
About the G♯ major 7th chord
Playing it
On guitar, G♯maj7 is most often played as a barre chord across the 4th fret (465544).
On piano, G♯maj7 has two black keys (G♯ and D♯) and two white keys.
On ukulele the usual G♯maj7 shape is 0043, using two fingers.
Related chords
Take away the root and the other three notes form B♯m (B♯ D♯ F𝄪) — so you can think of G♯maj7 as B♯m with G♯ added underneath.
Move a single note and G♯maj7 becomes a different chord: drop the F𝄪 for G♯, lower F𝄪 to F♯ for G♯7, swap F𝄪 for E♯ for G♯6 and swap F𝄪 for A♯ for G♯add9.
Where you’ll hear it
You’ll find G♯maj7 in common progressions such as B♭m7–E♭7–A♭maj7 (the jazz cadence in A♭ major).
Notice the B♯ in G♯maj7 (G♯ B♯ D♯ F𝄪): each note of the chord takes its own letter (G–B–D–F), so the major 3rd has to be written B♯ rather than C — the same key on a piano, spelled to fit the chord.
