E Major 7th
maj7
0 - 4 - 7 - 11Major + major 7th
About E Major 7th
E major seventh is the loudest major seventh on the guitar and the one that sounds least like jazz. Because the tonic is the open low string and three others ring freely, the chord keeps the weight of plain E while the added D♯ removes its finality — a combination no other key offers.
The notes
E, G♯, B, D♯. The D♯ sits a semitone below the octave E, and on the open shape it is fretted on the D string at the first fret — one finger away from the standard E major.
Lower it to D and the chord becomes E7, the blues staple. The two are a fret apart and belong to opposite ends of the repertoire, which makes them a useful pair for hearing what a major seventh does to a dominant.
On the fretboard
The common open shape keeps the low E and B ringing and frets the G♯ and D♯ close together. It is easy, resonant and slightly muddy — the low register crowds the seventh.
Higher voicings on the middle strings solve that by leaving the bass to someone else. In a band the compact shape at the seventh fret is almost always the better choice.
Where it shows up
As the I of E major and the IV of B. In guitar-written music it appears mostly as a colour on the tonic — an E that has decided not to end the song.
It is also common in shoegaze and ambient playing, where the ringing open strings and the unresolved seventh do the work that reverb would otherwise have to.