The minor 7th chord (abbreviated m7 in chord names) is a four-note chord, but due to the characteristics of the guitar, the chords can involve four to six notes (in some cases with duplicated notes). The minor 7th is similar to the dominant 7th, but is distinguished by its minor third.
The chord is built by a root, a minor third, a fifth and a minor seventh. Below you can see m7 chords in mostly open position presented and by scrolling down further you can also see minor seventh barre chords.
Minor 7th chords
Cm7
More Cm7 chords
Dm7
More Dm7 chords
Em7
More Em7 chords
Fm7
More Fm7 chords
Gm7
More Gm7 chords
Am7
Bm7
More Bm7 chords
Minor 7th chords with sharp or flat root
C#m7 / Dbm7
D#m7 / Ebm7
F#m7 / Gbm7
G#m7 / Abm7
A#m7 / Bbm7
Comments
The dots indicate there to place your fingers. X means that the string shouldn't be played at all and the numbers indicate frets (0 means that the string should be played open).
Chord formula
The minor seventh is built with the formula 1-b3-5-b7.
Chord construction
Cm7 x - C - x - Bb - Eb - G
C#m7 x - C# - G# - C# - B - x
Dm7 x - x - D - A - C - F
D#m7 x - x - D# - A# - C# - F#
Em7 E - B - E - G - D - E
Fm7 F - C - Eb - Ab - C - F
F#m7 F# - x - E - A - C# - x
Gm7 G - D - F - Bb - D - G
G#m7 G# - x - F# - B - D# - x
Am7 x - A - E - G - C - E
A#m7 A# - x - G# - C# - F - x
Bm7 x - B - D - A - B - F#
Guitar versions of the chord
Notes in chord
Cm7 C - Eb - G - Bb
C sharp m7 C# - E - G# - B
Dm7 D - F - A - C
D sharp m7 D# - F# - A# - C#
Em7 E - G - B - D
Fm7F - Ab - C - Eb
F sharp m7 F# - A - C# - E
Gm7 G - Bb - D - F
G sharp m7 G# - B - D# - F#
Am7 A - C - E - G
A sharp m7 A# - C# - F - G#
Bm7 B - D - F# - A
The intervals are 1 – 3b – 5 – b7
Theory
To look closer at this certain chord type we can take Am7 as an example. Am7 consists of four notes: A, C, E and G. Played as an open chord on the guitar it includes the following notes (from 5th to 1st string): A, E, G, C and E. The E note is duplicated, not because it's the most important note, but due to the circumstance of the instrument and how it's tuned.
Sometimes, a note is omitted and transformed the minor 7th to a three-note chords. In these cases, the fifth is normally left out.
Movable barre shapes for minor 7th chords
Gm7
Bm7
Comments
These two shapes can be used for all m7 chords and the root notes are the bass notes on the 6th and 5th strings respectively. If the shapes are moved one step further up the neck, the chords are G#m7 and Cm7 respectively.
Movable "jazz shapes" for minor 7th chords
m7 (shape 1)
m7 (shape2)
Comments
The names of these shapes aren't "jazz shapes", but they are very common in jazz. To give examples, Am7 should be played as 5X555X and Dm7 should be played as X5X56X.
Minor 7th chord in open position
Here are additional fingerings in open position for this chord category:
C#m7: X42100 / X42400
G#m7/D#: XX1102
Abm7/Eb: XX1102
Minor 7th chord alterations
Alterations means that a note in the chord is altered, for example, a flattened fifth. The two main variations are m7b5 and m7#5, the former is much more common.
We can compare these alterations with the standard dominant seventh:
Chord construction
Cm7 C - x - Bb - Eb - G - x
C7b9 C - x - Bb - Eb - Gb - x
C7#5 C - x - Bb - Eb - G# - x
Guitar versions of the chord
Notes in chord
Cm7 C - Eb - G - Bb
Cm7b5 C - Eb - Gb - Bb
Cm7#5 C - Eb - G# - Bb - Db
Theoretical order of notes
In Cm7#5 (Cm7+5) and Cm7b5 (Cm7-5) the fifth are raised or flattened.
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