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The Fmaj7 chord

Think of the Fmaj7 as a major chord with a wistful halo. The chord is built from F - A - C - E, a textbook major seventh. It does its strongest work in jazz standards, lo-fi beats and indie ballads, where it tends to float a melody over a soft cushion. The Fmaj7 does its work quietly. Lo-fi producers built a whole genre on Fmaj7's halo of unresolved warmth. Voicings on both instruments, theory in plain language, progressions in multiple keys and a handful of real song references are all laid out below.

Hear the Fmaj7 in the chord builder →

Voicings for Fmaj7

Common ways to grip the Fmaj7 on guitar and piano. Guitar diagrams read low E to high E left-to-right; an × means muted, an open circle above the nut means an open string. Filled dots are fretted notes.

Guitar , full chord shapes

CAGED-derived voicings for Fmaj7 across the neck. Pick the shape closest to where your hand already sits.

Guitar: Emaj7 shape at fr.1

Notes: F - A - C - E (chord tones)

Guitar: Amaj7 shape at fr.8

Notes: F - A - C - E (chord tones)

Guitar: Dmaj7 shape at fr.3

Notes: F - A - C - E (chord tones)

Guitar: Cmaj7 shape at fr.5

Notes: F - A - C - E (chord tones)

Guitar: Gmaj7 shape at fr.10

Notes: F - A - C - E (chord tones)

Guitar , triad shapes

Three-note voicings on three adjacent strings. Light textures for arpeggios, pop layering and chord-melody work.

Triad: top-string triad

Notes: 3-note voicing on adjacent strings

Triad: middle-string triad

Notes: 3-note voicing on adjacent strings

Triad: bass-side triad

Notes: 3-note voicing on adjacent strings

Piano voicings

Root position and inversions. The bass note matters: each inversion changes how the chord sits under a melody.

Piano: root position

Notes: F - A - C - E. Root F at the bottom. The classic stacked-thirds spelling of a major seventh.

Piano: first inversion

Notes: A - C - E - F. A at the bottom. Common in chord-melody, walking bass lines and gentler voicings.

Piano: second inversion

Notes: C - E - F - A. C at the bottom. A floating, suspended feel often used in hymns and ballads.

Piano: third inversion

Notes: E - F - A - C. E at the bottom. The seventh in the bass , a smooth jazz favourite.

The theory behind Fmaj7

The Fmaj7 chord (F - A - C - E) is a major seventh. Its intervals are root, major third, perfect fifth, major seventh. Functionally it lives at home in a closely related major key as the passing chord, but you'll also find it in a closely related major key as the passing chord. The chord tends to stay home, or relax sideways to the vi, which is why it shows up in jazz and modern R&B.

Progressions that use Fmaj7

Short progressions that put the Fmaj7 to work. Each one is shown in a different key so you can pick the one that suits your singer.

I→IV→V key of C major

Fmaj7 (as passing colour)

This chord appears as a borrowed or passing chord in many major-key progressions.

→ Build this in the chord builder

Songs that feature Fmaj7

Real records where this chord does structural work. No lyrics quoted, just the title and artist so you can pull up a copy and hear it in context.

Just the Two of Us by Grover Washington Jr.. Fmaj7 in the song's classic loop.
Killing Me Softly by Roberta Flack. Fmaj7 colour throughout the song.
Misty by Erroll Garner / Standard. Fmaj7 inside the standard's lush harmony.

Related chords

Chords a step away from the Fmaj7 in the songwriting circle, the natural neighbours when you want a substitution.

TriadF DomF7 NeighbourC NeighbourCm NeighbourC7 NeighbourBb

Keys where Fmaj7 lives

The keys where this chord turns up diatonically. Open any key page for the full set of progressions that lean on it.

C major A minor

More songwriting tools

Got the chord but still wrestling with the lyric? Find the right rhyme in RhymeForge, or break a writer's block with the unexpected word-pair generator in CollisionLab. Need to map a full progression? The chord builder on the home page is where the Fmaj7 fits into context. All free, no signup.

About the chord builder

The Undercover Zest chord progression builder is a free interactive tool that maps every diatonic and borrowed chord in every key. Click a Roman numeral to hear it, drag chords into a progression, then audition voicings, inversions and tensions until the song clicks.

This page is a static reference for the Fmaj7. For interactive playback, voice-leading hints and substitution suggestions, open the chord builder above.