Lesson 53 · All 12 keys

Major 7sus2 Chord Trainer

Learn how a Major 7sus2 chord is built one semitone-count at a time — a sus2 chord (Lesson 27) with a major 7th stacked on top — then put it to work with three MIDI exercises: playing all 12 major 7sus2 chords around the circle of fourths, and 5 jazz plus 5 gospel chord progressions that show off its color, in every key.

How a Major 7sus2 chord is built

A Major 7sus2 chord — written maj7sus2 (e.g. Cmaj7sus2) — is a 4-note chord: a sus2 chord (Lesson 27) with a major 7th stacked on top. Every maj7sus2 chord — in any of the 12 keys — is built the exact same way, by counting semitones to the right from a root note:

  1. The starting note — this note names the chord.
  2. Count 2 semitones up from the root — the major 2nd, replacing the 3rd exactly like a sus2 chord (Lesson 27).
  3. Count 5 more semitones up from the 2nd (7 semitones from the root) — the perfect 5th.
  4. Count 4 more semitones up from the 5th (11 semitones from the root) — the major 7th, the same 7th a major 7th chord (Lesson 16) uses.
Example — Cmaj7sus2: start on C, count 2 semitones right to reach D, count 5 semitones more to reach G, count 4 semitones more to reach B. C‑D‑G‑B is the Cmaj7sus2 chord.
With the 3rd replaced by a 2nd, a major 7sus2 chord is neither major nor minor — an open, ambiguous color made even more floating by the major 7th on top, distinct from the plain sus2 chord (Lesson 27) it is built from.

Try it: pick a root and build the chord step by step

Step 1 of 4
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Chord toneNoteSemitones from rootMIDI #

All 12 major 7sus2 chords at a glance

ChordRootMajor 2ndPerfect 5thMajor 7th

This MIDI exercise plays all 12 major 7sus2 chords, one after another, moving around the circle of fourths — each chord's root sits a perfect 4th (5 semitones) above the last one: C → F → B♭ → E♭ → A♭ → D♭ → G♭/F♯ → B → E → A → D → G → back to C. Every chord is played as a full 4-note Major 7sus2 chord (root, major 2nd, perfect 5th, major 7th together).

Chord 1 of 12
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The 12 chords, in circle-of-fourths order

#ChordRootMajor 2ndPerfect 5thMajor 7th

Five jazz chord progressions built around the Major 7sus2 chord. Pick a progression and play it in one key or cycle through all 12.

Key of C
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Progression in C

DegreeChordNotes

Five gospel chord progressions built around the Major 7sus2 chord. Pick a progression and play it in one key or cycle through all 12.

Key of C
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Progression in C

DegreeChordNotes