Position 1 / 4

This chord has 4 voicings across the fretboard. Use the arrows to see each shape and fingering — and tap any dot on the diagram to hear that note.

Beginner

Cmaj7 Guitar Chord

A major seventh chord with a bright, sophisticated jazz quality. Cmaj7 is smooth, lush, and often found in contemporary pop.

Also known as

  • CM7
  • C Δ
  • CΔ7
  • C M7
  • C Δ7
  • C maj7
  • C major 7th
  • C major seventh

How to Play This Chord

Position your fingers on the fretboard as shown in the diagram. The vertical lines represent the strings, from low E (left) to high E (right), and the horizontal lines are the frets. Numbers inside the dots indicate which finger to use: 1 (index), 2 (middle), 3 (ring), 4 (pinky). An X means don't play that string; an O means play it open. A bar spanning multiple strings means one finger presses across all of them at once — this is known as a barre chord.

Tips & Tricks

Open Cmaj7 is one of the easiest jazz-flavored chords — just play C major but leave the B string open (or place your index on the 3rd string, 2nd fret area while the 1st string rings open). The key mistake is accidentally muting the high E string, so keep your fingers arched.

There are many ways to play this chord. Try these:

eBGDAE 3 3 2 0 0 0 3 3
eBGDAE 0 0 0 2 3 3 0 0
eBGDAE 3 0 3 0 2 0 3 0
eBGDAE 3 0 0 0 3 0 0 0

See how Cmaj7 works with other chords — Progression Generator