Julie Swihart

Major Seventh Chords

Let’s look at how to play an Emaj7 (“E major seventh”) chord on the piano. We’ll also learn the pattern for building any other major seventh chord.

What Are Major Seventh Chords?

A major seventh chord is a major chord with an added note. The added note is the seventh note of the matching major scale.

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 34-page PDF! Chords are sorted both by their root note (C, D, E, etc.) and type (major, minor, etc.).

Get the Printable

How to Play an Emaj7 Chord

Now let’s build an Emaj7 chord. We’ll start by building an E major chord, using the first, third and fifth notes of the E major scale: E – G♯ – B

Then we’ll add the seventh note of the E major scale: D♯

So to play an Emaj7 chord, we’ll play:

E – G♯ – B – D♯

We can use this pattern to build any other major seventh chord, by using the first, third, fifth and seventh notes of the matching major scale.

Chord Fingering

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

Other Seventh Chords

There are different types of seventh chords, so 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 E7 chord is:

E – G♯ – B – D

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 Em7 chord is:

E – G – B – D

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

So an Emaj7 chord is:

E – G♯ – B – D♯

Conclusion

Now you know how to build an Emaj7 chord on the piano, and you can use that knowledge to build other major seventh chords!

These are pretty chords, and can be nice options to use when playing creatively at the piano.