Am(maj7)

A1C♭3E5G♯7

Minor triad, major seventh — the tonic chord of harmonic minor.

on guitar on piano the scale

Every fingering that fits a hand

Fig. 2

2040

easy · no 5

Fig. 3

2043

easy · no 5

Fig. 4

204x

easy · no 5

Fig. 5

2443

moderate

Fig. 6

x98b

easy · no 5

What is true of it

Am(maj7) is A, C, E and G♯ — 1, b3, 5 and 7 counted from A.

On an instrument that cannot reach all 4, the 5 goes first, in that order.

The easiest of the 5 fingerings below is 2040: 2 fingers, held at the 2nd fret.

None of them uses an open string, so this chord moves up the neck unchanged — the same shape 1 fret higher is the chord a semitone above.

It leaves out the 5. 4 strings cannot carry 4 notes, and the 5 is the one this chord can lose without changing what it is.

Where its notes are on the neck

Fig. 7 — first 12 frets

The brass dots are A, the root. Everything else is a chord tone with its degree printed in it.

With a different note underneath

first inversion

Am(maj7)/C

x040

second inversion

Am(maj7)/E

998b

third inversion

Am(maj7)/G♯

1000

An inversion is the same chord with a different note lowest. The name changes to a slash name because the bass is what a listener hears as the foundation.

A in other shapes

A7dominant seventh Amaj7major seventh Am7minor seventh Amajor Amminor Adimdiminished

Cm(maj7)C♯m(maj7)D♭m(maj7)Dm(maj7)D♯m(maj7)E♭m(maj7)Em(maj7)Fm(maj7)all 374