Ukulele · major seventh
Amaj7 Chord on Ukulele
A Major 7th is A, C#, E, G# — the 1-3-5-7 pattern of a major seventh chord. There are 2 ways to play it on ukulele, ranked below from easiest to hardest.
Good news: Amaj7 has an open shape on ukulele, so you can play it without barring anything. Start there and work up the neck later.
Start here — Amaj7 Shape (movable) (1st fret)
Open shape — open strings ring right through it and there is nothing to barre. If you only learn one, learn this one.
Easier ways to play it — 2 shapes, easiest first
Same chord in all of them. What changes is how much your hand has to do and where on the neck it sits.
Amaj7 Shape (movable) (1st fret) Way 1 of 2
Amaj7 Shape (movable) (1st fret)
Easiest here· intermediate· the standard shape
Open shape — open strings ring right through it and there is nothing to barre. If you only learn one, learn this one.
Gmaj7 Shape (movable) (2nd fret) Way 2 of 2
Gmaj7 Shape (movable) (2nd fret)
intermediate
Fingered low on the neck with no barre — a useful middle step between the open shape and the movable ones.
What beginners get wrong
Moving in and out of it
The shape above: Amaj7 Shape (movable) (1st fret) — open position, so several strings ring unfretted — barred at fret 1.
Listening: each shape above has its own play button, and each one plays the notes that shape actually produces — not a generic triad.
Amaj7 on other instruments
Same notes, different hands. Every link below is a real page with diagrams and audio.
Chords next door
Same root, different colour — and all of them playable on ukulele.
Amaj7 on Ukulele — questions people ask
What is the easiest way to play Amaj7 on ukulele?
“Amaj7 Shape (movable) (1st fret)” — which we rate intermediate — is the easiest Amaj7 shape on ukulele. Open shape — open strings ring right through it and there is nothing to barre. If you only learn one, learn this one.
What notes are in the A Major 7th chord?
A Major 7th is A, C#, E, G# — the 1-3-5-7 interval pattern of a major seventh chord. Every voicing on this page uses those notes and nothing else; they just appear in a different order and octave.
How many ways can you play Amaj7 on ukulele?
This page has 2 Amaj7 voicings for ukulele, ranked from easiest to hardest: Amaj7 Shape (movable) (1st fret), Gmaj7 Shape (movable) (2nd fret). They all sound like Amaj7; the differences are how hard they are to hold and how high they sit.
What can I play instead of Amaj7?
The nearest stand-ins on ukulele that keep the same root are Asus4, Asus2, A. They keep the root and the fifth and only change what sits in the middle, so most songs still work — but check the swap against the melody, because the note you removed may be the one the tune is singing.
Can I play Amaj7 on other instruments?
Yes. Amaj7 is the same set of notes everywhere; only the fingering changes. This site has diagrams and audio for it on guitar, piano, bass, mandolin, banjo.
Learn the theory behind Amaj7
The shape gets your fingers there. These explain why it sounds the way it does.