GbMaj7 chord help for short-fingered mandolinist

[Mandolincelli]

The last time I needed help with fingering a chord, I got such great help from the MandolinCafe folks that I thought I'd give it another go:

My go-to fingering for just about any Maj7 chord is usually to barre the whole neck with the 1 note on the G string, the 5 note right under it on the D string, the 3 note on the A string and the Maj 7 note on the E string just below it; so for instance, an AMaj7 would be (from G to E String):

2
2
4
4

The problem is GbMaj7. I need to go from Db7 to GbMaj7 to G-7 (We're playing Recordame in A-). The only GbMaj7 I can grab using my go-to fingering is way up at the 11th fret and I'd like to try to stay down by the nut for this chord.

So, of course, the next thing I did was go to Brian's Huge Chordlist Collection on the internet. He gives you 8 different possible GbMaj7 diagrams. Only 2 of them were on the nut-side of the 7th fret, and both of those required not hitting your G string. Does anyone have a better GbMaj7 in the first-position side of the neck than what Brian offers?

Here's the url to Brian's Huge Chordlist Collection: http://chordlist.brian-amberg.de/en/...andard/Gbmaj7/

Thanks for helping,

Ken

[Bruce Clausen]

If you want all four notes, you could try (low to high) one of these:

6411
3441

But in a band context you often don't need all the notes. Hope this helps.

[Bill McCall]

I don’t think you can easily. If the 3 is the bass note, you can’t get the 5 or maj 7 on the D string. If the 5 is in the bass, then you have 688 as the chord, 5,3,7. But if you used the 3 high strings, you could use 355, using the g bass note on the D string.

Or at least I think so.

[40bpm]

Find the moving tones and use 3 note or 2 note chords to facilitate. To me, the movement is more important than the full chords.

[John Soper]

For a full monty Db7 --> GbMaj7: 4-3-4-4 --> 3-3-4-4 (going up from the G string); or just use the bottom 3 strings in those fingerings & let somebody else fill in the other notes... I think this is in the range you are looking for.

[Tom Wright]

That suggestion is one of my go-to moves, especially for the I - IV with dominant 7ths on both, like D7 to G7, which would be 5-4-5-(x) to 4-3-5-(x).

I would usually add the bass note on my C course to play 1-4-3-4-(x) for the Db7 and 6-3-3-4-(x) for the Gb maj 7.

[Don Stiernberg]

the Gbmaj7 appears in a short string of ii-V I's....in Bb, then Ab, then Gb. Remembering that it's ok to express the root(I) chord as major, major 7th, 6th, or 9th, you might try your voicings for those to see if any lend the sort of connection or ease of fingering you want, along with the vibe or sound that fits the tune of course. Actually just in case the maj7 is critical, you may want to avoid the straight major chord. So it might work to play 3-1-4(Gb6)to 3-5-5(Gm). Also functional would be 3-3-4(is that Gbmaj7 or Bbm?Yes.)to 3-3-5(Gm7). One I like for maj7's lately would be up the neck a bit but I dig it in this application: 6-4-8(Gbmaj7) to 7-5-8(Gm7,sorta)..

And now I realize I was supposed to be going Db7-Gbmaj7-Gm7. Sorry. I wholeheartedly endorse the suggestions from my friends and colleagues above, AND you might want to try the whole ii-V-I string like this:

3-3-5-5(Bbmaj7)3-3-4-4(Bbm7)6-5-6(Eb7) 1-1-3-3(Abmaj7) or 5-3-6(Ab6)1-1-2-2(Abm7)4-3-6(Eb9)3-1-4(Gb6)or 1-3-1-4-4(Gb6/9)or6-4-8(Gbmaj7)7-5-8(Gm7)9-8-10(C7)5-7-7(Fmaj7)7-6-10(E7#9)

[jesserules]

The problem is GbMaj7.

3342 (low to high) would be Bb F Db Gb which is GbM7 I think? That seems playable. Depends where you're coming from/going to, of course.

[Stevo75]

3342 (low to high) would be Bb F Db Gb which is GbM7 I think? That seems playable. Depends where you're coming from/going to, of course.

That doesn't sound right. A Gbmaj7 would have an F in it. Not an F#. So that would be first fret on the E string not the second.

[jesserules]

That doesn't sound right. A Gbmaj7 would have an F in it. Not an F#. So that would be first fret on the E string not the second.

The 2 on the E string is actually a G flat. The major seventh F is over on D string fret 3.

[Jacob Hagerty]

here is what I might use. either of the Db7s


Db7.

G. 4
D. 3
A. 4
E. x or 1

or this Db7
x
3
2
4

GbMaj7
3
4
1
1

G-7
3
5
1
1

[Stevo75]

The 2 on the E string is actually a G flat. The major seventh F is over on D string fret 3.

Right, I see. I got stuck thinking the maj7 should be at the top.

[jesserules]

Right, I see. I got stuck thinking the maj7 should be at the top.

Just now actually played my suggestion a couple times. Meh. 334x sounds better, let the bass player supply the root.

But hey, there's other options, as seen above!

[ajh]

I have found this site invaluable. They also now have a function where it will "sound" the chords in a nice sounding guitar clip that really shows off the subtleties between chords as well as inside a given chord if you click the chord you want. Kind of hard to explain but if you wander around in the site it will make sense.

https://www.scales-chords.com/chdbmain.php