Piano Improvisation - Major 7th Chords

C major 7 is a really cool chord. Here it is. It adds a very floating, hanging sort of feel. The B at the top—so the C chord C major triad with a B in it because B is the seventh note of the C major skill hence the name C major 7.

Now you may have noticed that earlier I have played it like this and that’s because whenever I play chords one of my habit is to replace the root of the chord in right hand with the second. It just adds a little bit more color of the chord. These are definitely not wrong, but I just prefer to play the D the second in my right hand rather than playing a note that’s already been playing in my left hand. So it’s a good habit. Move the root to the second.

Here is a full CM7 chord, and Em with and F sharp in it. You can call it Em9 if I put in the D in as well, or Em2. Now sevens work really well. Major sevens work really well to create that floating sound. It works well with the first of the chord. So for example if I'm in the key of in this case I'm in the key of G because you saw me playing F sharp before, finding the key of G I can play a GM7 because that works in the first. The first as in the root of the tonic. So I can play GM7 if I'm in the key of G and they also work as you’ve already seen on the fourth of the key which is C, CM7. So I've got GM7 that I can play followed by CM7 if I'm in the key of G. In fact, those two chords alone make quite a pleasant progression.

You'll notice that when I play the GM7 I'm fond of playing the 7th at the bottom of my chord in the right hand. I'm playing it with my thumb instead of always putting it on the top of the chord I can place it at the bottom of the chord. It creates a nice sort of underneath effect. Sure you can put it at the top I can put it in the middle of my chord. So all I'm doing is I'm playing GM7 followed by CM7 repeatedly and it forms a nice progression good for background music, wedding and churches.

Now if you get a little bit tired of playing that sort of floating sound then just get rid of the 7th for a couple of times for the progression and you get a more contemporary modern sound. Then when you want that floating sound again put it back in.

One thing to note and this is slightly off topic is when I play the CM chord in the key of G I'm also aiming for the F sharp which is the 7th of G it creates a very nice sort of hush effect but greater result. So the next time you play a C chord in the key of G aim for not only the 7th, not only the 2nd but try including the F sharp as well.


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