# G♭ Major 7th piano chord (G♭maj7)

G♭maj7 contains G♭, B♭, D♭ and F. A major triad with the major seventh added on top. G♭, B♭ and D♭ are black keys; F is white.

- Canonical page: https://piano.org/chords/major-7th/g-flat/
- Entity: chord:major-7th:g-flat
- Notes: G♭ B♭ D♭ F
- Formula: 1 3 5 7
- Intervals from root: P1, M3, P5, M7
- Interval stack (semitones): 4 3 4
- Also written: G♭maj7, Gbmaj7, G♭ major 7th
- Parameters: A440, 12-TET, 165 mm octave, spans centre to centre

## Construction

| Degree | Note | Interval from root | Semitones |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | G♭ | Perfect unison | 0 |
| 3 | B♭ | Major third | 4 |
| 5 | D♭ | Perfect fifth | 7 |
| 7 | F | Major seventh | 11 |

## Fingering

Rest your right hand over the notes with finger 2 on G♭, finger 3 on B♭, finger 4 on D♭, finger 5 on F. The left hand mirrors it.
Right hand 2-3-4-5, left hand 5-4-3-2. Source: piano.org fingering method v1.

## Inversions

| Position | Bass | Notes in order | Figured bass | Span |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Root position | G♭ | G♭3 B♭3 D♭4 F4 | 7 | 11 st, 151 mm |
| First inversion (G♭maj7/B♭) | B♭ | B♭3 D♭4 F4 G♭4 | 6/5 | 8 st, 110 mm |
| Second inversion (G♭maj7/D♭) | D♭ | D♭4 F4 G♭4 B♭4 | 4/3 | 9 st, 124 mm |
| Third inversion (G♭maj7/F) | F | F4 G♭4 B♭4 D♭5 | 4/2 | 8 st, 110 mm |

## Voicings (10)

| Voicing | Notes | Span | Relation | Omits or adds |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Close, root position | G♭3 B♭3 D♭4 F4 | 11 st, 151 mm | identical | none |
| Close, first inversion | B♭3 D♭4 F4 G♭4 | 8 st, 110 mm | identical | none |
| Close, second inversion | D♭4 F4 G♭4 B♭4 | 9 st, 124 mm | identical | none |
| Close, third inversion | F4 G♭4 B♭4 D♭5 | 8 st, 110 mm | identical | none |
| Drop 2 | D♭3 G♭3 B♭3 F4 | 16 st, 220 mm | identical | none |
| Drop 3 | B♭2 G♭3 D♭4 F4 | 19 st, 261 mm | identical | none |
| Drop 2 and 4 | G♭2 D♭3 B♭3 F4 | 23 st, 316 mm | identical | none |
| Shell, root 7 3 | G♭2 F3 B♭3 | 16 st, 220 mm | subset | omits D♭ |
| Guide tones, 3 and 7 | B♭3 F4 | 7 st, 96 mm | subset | omits G♭ and D♭ |
| Rootless close | B♭3 D♭4 F4 | 7 st, 96 mm | subset | omits G♭ |

## Diatonic function by key

| Key | Roman numeral | Function |
| --- | --- | --- |
| D♭ major | IVmaj7 | Subdominant, away from home |
| E♭ minor | ♭IIImaj7 | Relative-major color |
| G♭ major | Imaj7 | Tonic, home |
| B♭ minor | ♭VImaj7 | Pre-dominant color |

Classification system: common-practice functional harmony.

## Progressions (9)

| Progression | Key | Role | Sequence | Voice leading |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| IV, V, I | D♭ major | IVmaj7 | G♭maj7 to A♭7 to D♭maj7 | G♭maj7 opens the phrase |
| I, IV | D♭ major | IVmaj7 | D♭maj7 to G♭maj7 | 2 tones held from D♭maj7 |
| ♭III, ♭VI, ii, v | E♭ minor | ♭IIImaj7 | G♭maj7 to C♭maj7 to Fm7♭5 to B♭m7 | G♭maj7 opens the phrase |
| i, ♭III | E♭ minor | ♭IIImaj7 | E♭m7 to G♭maj7 | 3 tones held from E♭m7 |
| ii, V, I | G♭ major | Imaj7 | A♭m7 to D♭7 to G♭maj7 | 2 tones held from D♭7 |
| IV, I | G♭ major | Imaj7 | C♭maj7 to G♭maj7 | 2 tones held from C♭maj7 |
| I, vi, ii, V | G♭ major | Imaj7 | G♭maj7 to E♭m7 to A♭m7 to D♭7 | G♭maj7 opens the phrase |
| ♭VI, iv, i, v | B♭ minor | ♭VImaj7 | G♭maj7 to E♭m7 to B♭m7 to Fm7 | G♭maj7 opens the phrase |
| i, ♭VI | B♭ minor | ♭VImaj7 | B♭m7 to G♭maj7 | 3 tones held from B♭m7 |

## One-edit neighbors

| Becomes | Edit | Changes | Common tones |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| G♭maj9 | 1 3 5 7 9 | adds A♭ | 4 |
| G♭ | 1 3 5 | drops F | 3 |
| G♭7 | 1 3 5 ♭7 | F becomes F♭ | 3 |
| G♭mMaj7 | 1 ♭3 5 7 | B♭ becomes B♭♭ | 3 |
| G♭6 | 1 3 5 6 | F becomes E♭ | 3 |
| G♭add9 | 1 3 5 9 | F becomes A♭ | 3 |
| G♭9 | 1 3 5 ♭7 9 | F becomes F♭, A♭ | 3 |
| G♭m | 1 ♭3 5 | B♭, F becomes B♭♭ | 2 |
| G♭aug | 1 3 ♯5 | D♭, F becomes D | 2 |
| G♭sus2 | 1 2 5 | B♭, F becomes A♭ | 2 |
| G♭sus4 | 1 4 5 | B♭, F becomes C♭ | 2 |
| G♭m7 | 1 ♭3 5 ♭7 | B♭, F becomes B♭♭, F♭ | 2 |

## Set theory

- Absolute pitch classes: {6, 10, 1, 5}
- Relative pitch classes: [0, 4, 7, 11]
- Normal order: [5, 6, 10, 1]
- Prime form: (0158)
- Forte number: 4-20
- Interval vector: <101220>

## Frequencies (close root position)

| Note | MIDI | Frequency |
| --- | --- | --- |
| G♭3 | 54 | 185.00 Hz |
| B♭3 | 58 | 233.08 Hz |
| D♭4 | 61 | 277.18 Hz |
| F4 | 65 | 349.23 Hz |

## Questions and answers

### What notes are in G♭maj7?

G♭maj7 contains G♭, B♭, D♭ and F. The formula is 1, 3, 5, 7.

### How do you play G♭maj7 on piano?

Play G♭, B♭, D♭ and F together. Right hand fingers 2, 3, 4, 5; left hand 5, 4, 3, 2. G♭, B♭ and D♭ are black keys; F is white.

### What are the inversions of G♭maj7?

4 positions: root position G♭ B♭ D♭ F, G♭maj7/B♭, G♭maj7/D♭, G♭maj7/F.

### What keys contain G♭maj7?

4: IVmaj7 in D♭ major, ♭IIImaj7 in E♭ minor, Imaj7 in G♭ major, ♭VImaj7 in B♭ minor.

### What is the difference between G♭maj7 and G♭maj9?

Adds A♭. 4 of the notes are shared.

### What is an easy G♭maj7 for small hands?

The guide tones, 3 and 7 voicing, B♭3 F4, spans 7 semitones or about 96 mm.

### What are the frequencies of G♭maj7?

From G♭3 at A440 in 12-TET: 185.00, 233.08, 277.18, 349.23 Hz.

### What is the set class of G♭maj7?

Prime form (0158), Forte 4-20, interval vector &lt;101220&gt;.

### How do I transpose G♭maj7 to another key?

Keep the 1, 3, 5, 7 formula on the new root. Cmaj7 is C, E, G, B; C♯maj7 is C♯, E♯, G♯, B♯.

### Is F♯maj7 the same as G♭maj7?

Enharmonically yes: the same piano keys and the same sound, spelled differently.

## Provenance

Every derived value above is computed by the piano.org theory kernel from the root, the quality and the stated parameters. Nothing is hand-entered per chord.

Machine record: https://piano.org/api/knowledge/v1/entities/chord:major-7th:g-flat
Last reviewed: 2026-08-12