Chord Of The Week 30/8/14 - E / Emaj7

bigjon

The notes are E G# B, and D# for the maj7, so in sequence 12 11 9 8 x x. For E7 chords please see the discussion at http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/610/chord-of-the-week-10-8-13-e-e7.

Usual open position voicings:

E: 022100

Emaj7: 02110(0)

The Emaj7 sounds a bit weird in many contexts with the high E ringing a b9 interval above the D# on string 4, so I prefer

Emaj7: 022444 or 022440.

There are some pleasant sounding Emaj7 chords higher up the neck using the open strings ringing, e.g

Emaj7: 076800

Emaj9: 076870 (nice harp-scale fragment of D# E F# available on strings 3 1 2)

What are your favourite Emaj7 and E chords and extensions? @Bucket, I think your 'Eb' chord goes here!

bigjon

Chord Of The Week Index with 56 discussions updated at http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/598/chord-of-the-week-index

smigeon

A nice rich one: 022444.

bigjon

As I'll be performing Lenny during my SRV tribute at the Cambridge Blues Jam tomorrow, we'd better document this Emaj7add13 -

Emaj7add13: 079899 or 076899

Ransciga

I like the 0099911 with the nice 7th on top

Roland

For Emaj7 x79897 gets a lot of use here, with occasional excursions into x76444. I also like x x 14 13 12 11 for high end accentuation

HAL9000

I quite like xx989x which because it lacks the root note is actually a G#m. However, the voicing definitely gives a maj7 flavour. Gives it a nice ambiguity. Robert Cray sometimes plays minor chords using this shape and I reckon it has quite a distinctive sound.

mike_l

I like 079890, The same shaape moved to C appears in Maidens Wasted years.

bigjon

Time for some CAGED action using that low E as a drone. Here are the 5 canonical shapes for Emaj7 - 

Emaj7: 022444 (D shape)

Emaj7: 076444 (C shape)

Emaj7: 079897 (A shape)

Emaj7: 0 11 9 9 9 11 (G shape)

Emaj7: 0 x 14 13 12 11 (E shape)