Bbmmaj7

BbmMaj7 is Bb, Db, F and A, a minor major seventh. The shape this page opens on is written x13221, lowest string first.

Note by note. Bb is the root, Db is the minor third, F is the fifth and A is the major seventh.

Also written BbmM7, Bbm(maj7), Bb-Δ7 or BbminMaj7. The same chord either way; which spelling you meet depends on who wrote the chart.

There are 7 common shapes for BbmMaj7 on the guitar, and 29 derived voicings in 4 families.

One note away. Change a single note of BbmMaj7 and you have Bbm (with one note taken away), Bbmaj7 (with one note moved), Bbm6 (with one note moved), Bbm7 (with one note moved), BbmMaj7b5 (with one note moved) or BbmMaj9 (with one note added).

The common shapes, written lowest string first: x13221, x43365, xx8665, 687666, x-x-8-10-10-9, x-13-11-10-10-x, x-13-15-14-14-13.

Under the hand. None of the shapes for BbmMaj7 uses an open string, so every one of them is movable; the lowest sits at the 1st fret. 1 of the 7 needs a barre. Together they cover the neck from the 1st fret to the 15th.

Shell. Root, third and seventh: the guide tones fix the quality, so the fifth is dropped. That is what leaves a string free, so pick a tension to put on top. BbmMaj7 has x1x22x, 647xxx, 6x76xx, x-13-11-14-x-x, x-13-x-14-14-x.

Drop 2. A close-position chord with the second voice from the top lowered an octave. Sits on four adjacent strings. BbmMaj7 has x1322x, 5433xx, xx7666, 6876xx, x-x-8-10-10-9, x-12-11-10-11-x, x-13-15-14-14-x, xx3325.

Drop 3. The third voice from the top lowered an octave. The dropped voice becomes the bass, which is why a string is skipped. BbmMaj7 has x1x221, 5x332x, x4x365, x-8-x-6-10-6, 6x766x, 9-x-8-10-10-x, x-12-x-10-11-9, 13-x-11-14-11-x.

Open string. An open string left ringing against a fretted grip. Because it costs no finger, it sounds a note the closed shape has none left for -- a tension on top, or a pedal root underneath. Either a familiar grip with open strings added, or a shape so sparse the open strings carry the chord. These belong to their key rather than to a shape, so D, A, G and E have many and Eb a handful. BbmMaj7 has 6470xx, x0302x.

Tensions. A shell of BbmMaj7, root, third and seventh, leaves a string free, and the tones that belong over it are the 9 (C), the 11 (Eb) and the 13 (G).

What kind of chord this is. BbmMaj7 is a minor chord — root, minor third, fifth. minor chords on every root, and what they are for.

The common shapes and the derived voicings come from different places, and both are explained in where the chords and the theory come from.