Major Seventh Chords

Let’s look at how to play an A flat major 7 chord on the piano. We’ll also learn the pattern for building any other major seventh chord.

What Are Major Seventh Chords?

Major seventh chords are major chords with an added note. The added note is the seventh note of the matching major scale.

So to build a major seventh chord, we’ll start by building a major chord. Major chords are built using the first, third and fifth notes of the matching major scale. Then to convert the major chord into a major seventh chord, we’ll add the seventh note of the matching major scale.

Chord Types Printable

Learn to play 17 types of piano chords using 12 different root notes with this 35-page PDF! Chords are sorted both by their root note and type.

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How to Play an A Flat Major 7 Chord

To build an A flat major 7 chord, we’ll start with an A flat major chord. We can build an A flat major chord using the first, third and fifth notes of the A flat major scale: A♭ – C – E♭

Then we’ll add the seventh note of the A flat major scale to the chord: G

So to play an A flat major 7 chord, we’ll play:

A♭ – C – E♭ – G

We can use this pattern to build any other major seventh chord! We can first build a major chord using the first, third and fifth notes of the matching major scale. Then we can add the seventh note of the scale to the chord.

Chord Fingering

To play this chord with the right hand, we can use fingers 1 – 2 – 3 – 5, and to play it with the left hand we can use fingers 5 – 3 – 2 – 1 (thumbs are 1’s).

Other Seventh Chords

Since there are different types of seventh chords, it can be helpful to compare their differences:

Seventh chords are major chords with an added note. The added note is the seventh note of the matching major scale, lowered 1/2 step.

So an A flat 7 chord is: A♭ – C – E♭ – G♭

Minor seventh chords are minor chords with an added note. The added note is the seventh note of the matching major scale, lowered 1/2 step.

So an A flat minor 7 chord is: A♭ – C♭ – E♭ – G♭

Major seventh chords are major chords with an added note. The added note is the seventh note of the matching major scale.

So an A flat major 7 chord is: A♭ – C – E♭ – G

Other Chord Types

Some of the other chord types you can learn are:

Major
Minor
Augmented
Diminished
Second
Minor Second
Suspended
Fifth
Sixth
Minor Sixth
Seventh
Minor Seventh
Ninth
Minor Ninth
Major Ninth

Conclusion

Now you know how to play an A flat major 7 chord, and you can use this pattern to build any other major seventh chord!

Using chords to play the piano is so much fun, and gives you lots of options for playing creatively and freely!