Bbmaj7 piano chords can add texture and emotion to your songs, enriching even minimal chord progressions with sound that sounds richer.
Addition of chord tones further away from their root can add depth to chords by inverting them, known as chord inversion.
Barre chords are ideal for beginners as they enable you to access chords you might otherwise not be able to with just open chords.
Intervals
The bbmaj7 chord is a four-note major seventh chord composed of Bb, Db, Fb and A notes that can be played on piano or other stringed instruments. Although relatively challenging to play fluently at first, practice will help ensure success eventually. You will need to extend your left hand fingers’ positions as there is an abrupt jump from root chord to minor chord which requires muscle memory training before your fingers will quickly and accurately set in their positions on the fretboard.
The major seventh chord is a popular choice in pop and rock music, while also appearing frequently in jazz and classical compositions. When used together with other chords such as minor seventh, its sound becomes even richer. To create this type of sound effectively, make sure the root note of the chord remains stable and there are no dissonant intervals within its soundscape.
Major seventh chords typically contain two major thirds and one perfect fifth, which can produce tension-filled and unstable chords when played quickly. Therefore, it is vitally important that you learn to play these chords slowly with an even rhythm – once this skill has been acquired you’ll be able to play at any tempo while maintaining stable chords that sound good!
When creating major 7th chords, it is essential to be aware of how interval quality names differ from standard clef note counting rules. To count a whole tone (one white and one black piano key), go up two physical piano keys while when counting half-tones or semitones you should go down two physical piano keys (see examples above).
Reading a major chord chart may be daunting for those unfamiliar with its naming convention, so to prevent any potential confusion start from the tonic note – Bb in this case. From here all other intervals will be calculated.
Scales
Bbmaj7 chords are four-note chords consisting of a root, major third, perfect fifth and major seventh note. To construct one using piano chord charts which depict all these intervals as notes and fingerings; see for instance this diagram which displays notes associated with Bbmaj7 chord and keyboard keyboard for reference.
Bbmaj7 chord progressions may resolve either to C or E minor depending on the tonal center of your song. To choose the best choice, compare it with its closest scale: for instance if playing in Bb, Eb major is most closely associated with its tonic Bbmaj7. Alternatively, to get an exotic sounding Bbmaj7 progression use an A Phrygian or Bb Lydian scale instead and play a Bbmaj7 chord with either scale instead.
A Bbmaj7 chord in F minor scale will also work, though due to its sharp edge it may not fit as seamlessly with the melody. A more stable and tonally rich solution would be switching over to a Bb diminished seventh chord for added tonality.
Trust your ears first when making musical decisions. While music theory can be useful, it shouldn’t dictate your song writing decisions. For instance, some may argue that Bbmaj7 chords can only be used as IV or bVII chords in key of Bb. However, this argument is incorrect as Bbmaj7s can also be used as III and VI chords in minor keys and still produce beautiful sounds progressions.
For practice moving quickly between these two kinds of 7th chords, try The Mystery Exercise – an easy piano fingering pattern which involves moving both hands in opposite directions (contrary motion). Practising this exercise will enable you to easily transition between them while increasing fingering speed and finger placement precision. When you have mastered The Mystery Exercise, use it with other 7th chords so as to quickly transition between them all.
Inversions
When playing chords, inverting their notes may be beneficial in making the chord more manageable – this means moving them either up or down an octave so you can play them more easily. This’version’ of the chord can then be chosen; for example a Bb major seventh inverted on D has all of the same notes, but its interval structure differs: 3 1 5 7. That is because F is now one octave below C!
Add additional notes to a chord to give it an entirely different sound – this process is known as flavoring a chord progression of song; for instance, replacing Bb major seventh with A-7 (also called half-diminished 7th).
Inverting notes of a chord can also help create better voice leading. This allows its notes to resolve more naturally without clashing with other chords; for instance, inverting Bb major seventh chord to E minor seventh will allow its notes to resolve without clashing with G7 and F major 7 chords that follow it.
There are various other methods for altering the sound of a chord, including adding suspensions and extensions. Suspensions are regular triads in which one note has been altered by shifting up or down by one semitone; when added to a major chord it creates an extended sound more dramatic sound.
To play chords on piano, it’s necessary to learn how to finger them correctly on both hands – usually an easy process for beginners as this requires using only two patterns of fingers in both hands at once. Our free app Captain Chords features an instructional exercise for beginners’ Chord Fingering which will help them familiarise themselves with chords and their inversions while learning other types of 7th chords as well as finger them correctly.
Fingerings
The bbmaj7 chord, more commonly referred to as Maj7, consists of four notes that combine to form one four-note chord. To form it, stacking major thirds, perfect fifths and major seventh intervals creates this four-note chord – its root note should sit on the left hand side while minor thirds, perfect fifths and minor sevenths should go on its right hand side – providing an opportunity to practice barre chords!
A Maj7th chord can also be played as a dominant seventh chord, which lowers its seventh semitone by one semitone and is commonly found in blues and rock music. In order to play one yourself, simply use the same fingerings for playing a major seventh chord but move your index finger from second fret of A string to first fret of G string for more powerful sounding chords.
Minor Maj7th chords are another variation on the traditional major seventh chord. To create this chord, simply add a minor seventh to a major seventh chord by playing its root note on one hand while adding major and minor thirds on another key; either way it can either function as a dominant seventh or minor maj7th depending on your personal taste.
Suspended and diminished seventh chords offer additional variations of the maj7th chord. Suspended chords (known as sus2 or sus4) are regular triads with one note moving up or down by one whole tone; these suspensions allow musicians to modulate between key areas with ease and can add great character and variety to their progressions.
Diminished seventh chords (dim7’s), also known as diminished seventh triads, provide an effective alternative to major and minor seventh chords. Similar to major or minor triads, dim7s consist of a root note, major 3rd note, major 5th note, minor seventh note, and minor seventh string fretting patterns with one key difference; these chords require moving your thumb from fifth fret A string A string to fourth fret G string G string when playing them.