Cmaj7 chord on guitar

Cmaj7 is C, E, G and B. The easiest shape is x-3-2-0-0-0. Press Play to hear it, then try it at half speed.

How to play Cmaj7 on guitar

Shape 1, x-3-2-0-0-0, reading from the low E string on the left:

1. Index finger: D string, 2nd fret (E).
2. Middle finger: A string, 3rd fret (C).
3. Let the open G, B and high E strings ring (G, B and E).
4. Don't play the low E string: start your strum on the A string.

• Arch your fingers so their tips come down vertically. That keeps them off the open strings, which have to ring for the chord to sound complete.

Other ways to play Cmaj7

• 8-10-9-9-8-8: barre shape at the 8th fret, medium. Built on the Emaj7 open shape with the barre as a movable nut; the root is on the 6th string.
• x-3-5-4-5-3: barre shape at the 3rd fret, medium. The root is on the A string; it's the Amaj7 shape moved up the neck.
• x-15-14-12-12-12: partial barre shape at the 12th fret, medium. Up the neck the chord gets thinner and brighter, a good contrast to the open version.

Playing Cmaj7 with a capo

With a capo you can skip the harder shapes: capo on the 3rd fret and play the open Amaj7 shape (x-0-2-1-2-0), capo on the 5th fret and play the open Gmaj7 shape (3-2-0-0-0-2) or capo on the 7th fret and play the open Fmaj7 shape (x-x-3-2-1-0). Everything above the capo is fingered exactly like the open chord.

Moving between Cmaj7 and its neighbours

These are the changes you'll meet most often with Cmaj7, using the first shape of each chord.

• Fmaj7 (IV in C major): Cmaj7 (x-3-2-0-0-0) to Fmaj7 (x-x-3-2-1-0): the index finger goes to the B string, 1st fret, your middle finger lands on the G string, 2nd fret, the ring finger comes down on the D string, 3rd fret. No finger can stay, so practice lifting all of them together and landing the new shape as a unit. Listen for C and E, which stay put while the rest moves. Fmaj7 on guitar
• G7 (V in C major): Cmaj7 (x-3-2-0-0-0) to G7 (3-2-0-0-0-1): the index finger goes to the high E string, 1st fret, the middle finger goes to the A string, 2nd fret, the ring finger comes down on the low E string, 3rd fret. No finger can stay, so practice lifting all of them together and landing the new shape as a unit. The two chords share G and B, which is why the change sounds smooth. G7 on guitar
• Am7 (vi in C major): Cmaj7 (x-3-2-0-0-0) to Am7 (x-0-2-0-1-0): the index finger goes to the B string, 1st fret, the middle finger goes to the D string, 2nd fret. C, E and G carry over from one chord to the other. Am7 on guitar

Cmaj7 is a major seventh chord: a major triad with the note a half step below the octave added. Cmaj7 works as a relaxed home chord; swap it in for plain C at the end of a phrase. On guitar you hear it best picked slowly, string by string.

Getting Cmaj7 under your fingers

Before strumming, play x-3-2-0-0-0 note by note: C then E then G then B then E. A dead note tells you exactly which finger to fix. Next, alternate x-3-2-0-0-0 and 8-10-9-9-8-8, slowly, until the change takes less than a beat.

Where Cmaj7 shows up

• I7 in C major
• IV7 in G major
• III7 in A minor
• VI7 in E minor

In C major, ii–V–I on guitar is Dm7 (x-x-0-2-1-1), G7 (3-2-0-0-0-1) and Cmaj7 (x-3-2-0-0-0). About the jazz cadence.

Cmaj7 on piano and ukulele

Cmaj7 on piano and ukulele uses the same 4 notes in a different layout. See all three together.

Close to Cmaj7

• C
• C7
• C6
• Cadd9
• Cm7

Other major seventh chords

• C♯maj7
• Dmaj7
• E♭maj7
• Emaj7
• Fmaj7
• F♯maj7
• Gmaj7
• A♭maj7
• Amaj7
• B♭maj7
• Bmaj7

Every shape above plays only C, E, G and B, checked by the site's tests. Updated September 2026. Print this chord