Emaj7 electric guitar chord

Emaj7 (E major seventh) is built from E, G#, B and D#, the degrees 1–3–5–7. On electric guitar, the main shape is 0 2 1 1 0 0, the first diagram, marked with the star.

Play a plain E. Nice — but ground-floor nice. Now hit play: Emaj7 is the same house with high ceilings.

Hear Emaj7 before you play

Why Emaj7 sounds this way

Here's the curious part: D#, the new note, lives a half step from E — that close, it should grind. And it does. But G# and B hold the room, so the grind turns into shimmer instead of a fight. Now listen to the arpeggio, one note at a time all the way to the last note and wait: you'll feel the spark without the fire. It's danger with a seatbelt on — which is why it sounds expensive.

How to play Emaj7 on electric guitar

On the electric guitar a chord needs only a few clear notes — the amp sustains them and fills the space, so you mute the strings you are not playing and let the tone carry the rest. So go with the first position below — 3 open strings as a bonus; it's the main shape — that's why it carries the ⭐. Then do the before-and-after: E, then Emaj7. The second is the first one after sunset. Run it a few times: this chord tends to feel odd on the first pass and addictive by the third.

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Higher up the neck this chord becomes comping carpet — the kind of sound that flatters any voice on top. Positions are right below.

Emaj7 notes and degrees

Emaj7 stacks the root E, the major third G#, the perfect fifth B and the major seventh D#.

Where Emaj7 shows up

Across keys, Emaj7 works as IIImaj7 in C# minor, Imaj7 in E major, VImaj7 in G# minor — almost always the deluxe I or the elegant IV. Bossa nova made it a signature and the world copied it; today you hear this chord from jazz to indie pop without it asking permission.

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Where Emaj7 usually goes

Treating Emaj7 as the home chord (I) of its key, it usually moves toward the pre-dominant (F#m / A) or the dominant (B / D#°), and the dominant pulls back home. Typically, not a rule.

Going beyond Emaj7

For improvising, E Ionian (E F# G# A B C# D# · 1 2 3 4 5 6 7: the plain major scale, where everything starts); E Lydian (E F# G# A# B C# D# · 1 2 3 #4 5 6 7: the major scale with a raised fourth — one extra step of daydream); E Lydian ♯2 (E F## G# A# B C# D# · 1 #2 3 #4 5 6 7: a lydian with a raised second, harmonic-major color) wrap the whole chord. And the jazz shapes at the end are the same four notes spread across the neck, for the day you want to sound like an arranger.

Scales to improvise over Emaj7

To improvise over Emaj7 as home, the E Ionian scale fits entirely: it contains every note of the chord. The best fit depends on the key, the surrounding chords and the tensions you want. And when the dominant (B) pulls back, the leading tone Eb is the note that wants to resolve home.

Swaps that work:

• C#m7C#m7C#m7C#m7 — Relative minor (vi) — same tonic function
• G#m7G#m7G#m7G#m7 — Mediant (iii) — tonic function

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Emaj7 jazz voicings

Jazz Lab: Drop 2 voicings in any key, free; drop 3 and shell are part of Pro · open in Chord and Fret

And when the song wants solid ground again, the way back is short: plain E. Drop the seventh, close the window — the house is still there.

Updated October 20, 2026