C#mmaj7

C#mMaj7 is C#, E, G# and B#, a minor major seventh. The shape this page opens on is written x4211x, lowest string first.

Note by note. C# is the root, E is the minor third, G# is the fifth and B# is the major seventh.

Also written C#mM7, C#m(maj7), C#-Δ7 or C#minMaj7. The same chord either way; which spelling you meet depends on who wrote the chart.

There are 6 common shapes for C#mMaj7 on the guitar, and 26 derived voicings in 3 families.

One note away. Change a single note of C#mMaj7 and you have C#m (with one note taken away), C#maj7 (with one note moved), C#m6 (with one note moved), C#m7 (with one note moved), C#mMaj7b5 (with one note moved) or C#mMaj9 (with one note added).

The common shapes, written lowest string first: x4211x, x46554, x76698, x-x-11-9-9-8, 9-11-10-9-9-9, x-x-11-13-13-12.

Under the hand. None of the shapes for C#mMaj7 uses an open string, so every one of them is movable; the lowest sits at the 1st fret. 1 of the 6 needs a barre. Together they cover the neck from the 1st fret to the 13th.

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. C#mMaj7 has x425xx, x4x55x, 9-7-10-x-x-x, 9-x-10-9-x-x.

Drop 2. A close-position chord with the second voice from the top lowered an octave. Sits on four adjacent strings. C#mMaj7 has x3212x, x4655x, 8766xx, x-x-10-9-9-9, 9-11-10-9-x-x, x-x-11-13-13-12, x-15-14-13-14-x, 4425xx.

Drop 3. The third voice from the top lowered an octave. The dropped voice becomes the bass, which is why a string is skipped. C#mMaj7 has x3x120, 4x252x, x4x554, 8x665x, x7x698, x-11-x-9-13-9, 9-x-10-9-9-x, 12-x-11-13-13-x.

Tensions. A shell of C#mMaj7, root, third and seventh, leaves a string free, and the tones that belong over it are the 9 (D#), the 11 (F#) and the 13 (A#).

What kind of chord this is. C#mMaj7 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.