The notes of D major 7
D major 7 has four notes, D, F♯, A and C♯: F♯ is a major 3rd above D, A is a perfect 5th above D and C♯ is a major 7th above D. That gives the formula 1 3 5 7, a major chord with a major seventh on top.
How it sounds and where it’s used
A major 7th chord sounds soft, warm and a little wistful: a major chord with the note a half step below the root added on top. It is a favourite in jazz, bossa nova, soul and pop ballads, mostly as I or IV. You’ll meet D major 7 most as Imaj7 in D major, IVmaj7 in A major and VImaj7 in F♯ minor.
- It is D major with C♯, a half step below the root, added on top.
- Its top three notes, F♯, A and C♯, make F♯ minor, so it is also that chord over D in the bass.
- Lower the 7th a half step, C♯ to C, and it becomes D7.
Fingering
With four notes, the outer fingers take the outside notes and the two notes a second apart (the 7th and the root, side by side) go to neighbouring fingers. In 1st inversion and 3rd inversion the right thumb lands on a black key: move the whole hand a little further in towards the fallboard, so the fingers on white keys stay on them.
| Position | Notes | Right hand | Left hand |
|---|---|---|---|
| Root position | D F♯ A C♯ | 1-2-3-5 | 5-3-2-1 |
| 1st inversion | F♯ A C♯ D | 1-2-4-5 | 5-3-2-1 |
| 2nd inversion | A C♯ D F♯ | 1-2-3-5 | 5-3-2-1 |
| 3rd inversion | C♯ D F♯ A | 1-2-3-5 | 5-4-2-1 |
Fingers count from the thumb (1) to the little finger (5). Shown low to high, so the left hand starts with 5.
Inversions
The same four notes can be stacked with any of them lowest. 1st inversion puts the third at the bottom: F♯, A, C♯ and D, written Dmaj7/F♯. 2nd inversion puts the fifth at the bottom: A, C♯, D and F♯, written Dmaj7/A. 3rd inversion puts the seventh at the bottom: C♯, D, F♯ and A, written Dmaj7/C♯. Whatever is on top, the chord is still D major 7: the lowest note only changes its colour. Pianists choose the position that is nearest to the chord before, so the hand moves by a step instead of jumping.
Keys with D major 7
Dmaj7 is built from the notes of these keys, where it is the chord on the degree shown:
Finding it fast
Play D major, then add the note a half step below D, an octave up: C♯. It sits right beside the octave above the root. In root position its keys are white, black, white, black. E major 7 and A major 7 have the same shape on the keys, so learn them together.
To read it on the page as quickly, practise the shapes with the chord reading quiz, and see how the notes are counted in intervals.