Maj7 vs 7 vs min7: How are these chords different?

The short answer is this:

Maj7 = 1 3 5 7
7    = 1 3 5 b7
Min7 = 1 b3 5 b7

Is it confusing? I think the best way to get around 7ths is to start with major/minor first.

Skip to what you need

• Triad.
• maj7 vs 7 vs m7
• In music
• Major 7th (maj7)
• Dominant 7th (7)
• Minor 7th (m7)
• Min maj7
• Easy voicings, common chords
• Made it this far?

Triad.

Note: Cm = Cmin = Cminor; C = Cmaj = Cmajor; means the same thing.

I'm using numbers so its clear. I'm writing notes of major scale as 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 (if you're curious, that's C D E F G A B in the key of C; or G A B C D E F# in the key of G; and so on)

You get basic chords by stacking thirds.

Maj = 1 3 5
Min = 1 b3 5

What makes a chord major or minor is the 3rd. Example in C:

Cmaj = C E G
Cmin = C Eb G

If I ask you to play a C chord for me, you'll play C major, right? C implies C major. C means - the 3rd interval is major.

If you want the chord to be minor, you have to say C minor chord. If you want it to be major, you just say C.

maj7 vs 7 vs m7

• maj7 = Major triad + major 7th. The 'maj' applies to 7th.
• 7 = Major triad + minor 7th. 7 means a dominant 7.
• min7 = Minor triad + minor 7th. The 'min' applies to 3rd.

It's fine to skip the 5th. 1 3 7 is still maj7; 1 b3 b7 is still min7.

There's also things like Cm(maj7) you'll rarely see. Cm means minor triad, then maj7 means it's a major 7th. Nothing hard about it.

In music

Major 7th (maj7)

Adds color to major chords. I use maj7 for IV chords, try Fmaj7 instead of F. It's super common; jazz, soul, rock, blues, pop, everywhere.

Cmaj7 - Fmaj7 - Dm7 - G7

Dominant 7th (7)

Adds tension. Wants to resolve. You'll find it in blues, jazz, funk, rock.

G7 - C

Minor 7th (m7)

Interesting color. ii chord is often played as min7, so ii V I in C looks like Dm7 G7 Cmaj7.

Dm7 - G7 - Cmaj7

Min maj7

Jazz. If you can make and play those chords, you don't need me to tell you how they're used.

Easy voicings, common chords

You can check more voicings in our chord dictionary.

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