Explore Dmaj7: Understand and Play This Major Seventh Chord
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Dmaj7 stands for the D major seventh chord, built from D, F#, A and C#. The top three notes, F#, A and C#, spell an F# minor triad, so the chord is a major triad with a minor triad stacked on its third.
Lydian is the other classic match: the D Lydian scale contains all four chord tones and has a raised fourth. The page lists seven voicings of Dmaj7, two of them with open strings and four using a barre. You can spot the gaps between these notes with fretboard interval shapes.
Strum the chord in front of your microphone and the player at the top shows which strings sound and which are muted.
D major 7th guitar chord is also written as Dmaj7, DM7, DΔ7 or Dma7.
D maj7 chord Notes:
Tones in the Major Seventh chord:
Formula: 1 3 5 7
D Maj7 Guitar Chord Diagrams
Position 1 Barre Open
Finger Positions
- Mute the low E string
- Let the A string play without pressing any fret
- Let the D string play without pressing any fret
- Place your index finger (1) on the fret 2 of the G, B and high E strings at the same time
Position 2 Barre Movable
Finger Positions
- Mute the low E string
- Place your index finger (1) on the fret 5 of the A and high E strings at the same time
- Place your middle finger (2) on the fret 6 of the G string
- Place your ring finger (3) on the fret 7 of the D string
- Place your pinky finger (4) on the fret 7 of the B string
Position 3 Movable
Finger Positions
- Mute the low E string
- Mute the A string
- Place your index finger (1) on the fret 9 of the high E string
- Place your middle finger (2) on the fret 10 of the B string
- Place your ring finger (3) on the fret 11 of the G string
- Place your pinky finger (4) on the fret 12 of the D string
Position 4 Barre Open
Finger Positions
- Mute the low E string
- Mute the A string
- Let the D string play without pressing any fret
- Place your index finger (1) on the fret 2 of the G, B and high E strings at the same time
Position 5 Movable
Finger Positions
- Mute the low E string
- Mute the high E string
- Place your index finger (1) on the fret 5 of the A string
- Place your middle finger (2) on the fret 6 of the G string
- Place your ring finger (3) on the fret 7 of the D string
- Place your pinky finger (4) on the fret 7 of the B string
Position 6 Barre Movable
Finger Positions
- Mute the low E string
- Place your index finger (1) on the fret 2 of the G, B and high E strings at the same time
- Place your ring finger (3) on the fret 4 of the D string
- Place your pinky finger (4) on the fret 5 of the A string
Position 7 Movable
Finger Positions
- Mute the low E string
- Mute the B string
- Mute the high E string
- Place your index finger (1) on the fret 4 of the D string
- Place your middle finger (2) on the fret 5 of the A string
- Place your pinky finger (4) on the fret 6 of the G string
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Created by
Giancarlo is a musician (teaching guitar since 2000), software engineer, AI consultant and published researcher
FAQ
Which notes does D major seventh contain?
D major seventh contains D, F#, A and C#. C# is the major seventh, one semitone short of the octave of D.
How many ways are there to play Dmaj7?
Dmaj7 has 7 voicings, 2 with open strings and 4 with a barre. The highest one reaches the 12th fret.
Where does Dmaj7 appear in a key?
Dmaj7 is the I chord of D major and the IV chord of A major. Both scales contain D, F#, A and C#.
What makes Dmaj7 different from D major?
D major is D, F#, A. Dmaj7 adds C#, a major seventh, one semitone short of the octave of D, so it has four notes instead of three.
