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The Gmaj7/B chord on guitar, Gmaj7 over B

Gmaj7/B is Gmaj7 with its third, B, as the lowest note. Two fingers, three open strings, and a sound that is light and a little suspended, as if the chord had not quite landed. The slash tells you the bass note; the chord itself does not change.

Gmaj7/B chord: notes and shapes at a glance

  • Name: G major seventh over B
  • Symbol: Gmaj7/B
  • Notes: G, B, D, F#
  • Bass note: B, the lowest note you play
  • Where it belongs: IVmaj7 in D major, Imaj7 in G major, IIImaj7 in E minor, VImaj7 in B minor

Each shape below is written from the thickest string to the thinnest: a number is the fret, 0 an open string, x a string you do not play. New to this? See how to read chord diagrams.

Shape Frets, low E to high E Notes, low to high What it is for
Gmaj7/B, open x20002 B D G B F# Two fingers, three open strings. B in the bass, F# on top.
Gmaj7/B, with D on top x20032 B D G D F# Adds D on the B string at fret 3. A little denser, F# still on top.
Gmaj7/B, closed 7x5777 B G D F# B No open strings, for higher up the neck. B on the low E, the third finger flat across the top three strings at fret 7.
Gmaj7/B, open x 2 0 0 0 2 · 2 · · · 4 fingers
Gmaj7/B, with D on top x 2 0 0 3 2 · 2 · · 3 1 fingers
Gmaj7/B, closed 7 x 5 7 7 7 2 · 1 3 3 3 fingers

Read each diagram from the thickest string on the left to the thinnest on the right. A cross means the string is not played, a circle means it rings open.

Gmaj7/B on the neck: every G, B, D, F#

Standard tuning, frets 0 to 12. The highlighted notes are the notes of Gmaj7/B: any shape you build from them, anywhere on the neck, is still Gmaj7/B.

Fretboard notes
Swipe the fretboard sideways to see every fret.
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
1 - E
E
F
F#
G
G#
A
A#
B
C
C#
D
D#
E
2 - B
B
C
C#
D
D#
E
F
F#
G
G#
A
A#
B
3 - G
G
G#
A
A#
B
C
C#
D
D#
E
F
F#
G
4 - D
D
D#
E
F
F#
G
G#
A
A#
B
C
C#
D
5 - A
A
A#
B
C
C#
D
D#
E
F
F#
G
G#
A
6 - E
E
F
F#
G
G#
A
A#
B
C
C#
D
D#
E

How to play Gmaj7/B

  1. Second finger on the A string at fret 2: B, the bass.
  2. Fourth finger on the high E string at fret 2: F#, the major seventh.
  3. D, G and B strings open: D, G and B.
  4. Strum from the A string. The low E stays silent: let the tip of the second finger touch it.
Why the fourth finger and not the first on the high E? Because it leaves the first and third fingers free. Drop the third finger on the B string at fret 3 and you have the second shape, x20032, without moving anything else. Use the first finger instead if your pinky is not ready yet: the chord is the same.

Gmaj7 or Gmaj7/B?

Symbol Bass Shape Sound
Gmaj7 G, the root 3x0002 Grounded, warm
Gmaj7/B B, the third x20002 Lighter, floating

The top of the chord is identical: D, G and B open, F# at fret 2 on the high E. Only the bass moves, from the low E at fret 3 to the A string at fret 2. Play the symbol on the chart: if the slash is there, B must be the first note you hear.

What B in the bass is good for

A slash chord is almost always there for a bass line. B sits between A and C, so Gmaj7/B lets the bass walk by step.

Progression Shapes Bass line
Gmaj7, Gmaj7/B, C 3x0002, x20002, x32010 G, B, C: climbing
C, Gmaj7/B, Am x32010, x20002, x02210 C, B, A: descending
D, Gmaj7/B, A xx0232, x20002, x02220 D, B, A: the IV chord of D, lightened

The same idea drives D/F#. And G6/B is the near twin of this chord: same bass, E on top instead of F#.

Two chords not to confuse with it

  • G7 has F, not F#. It is tense and pulls toward C; Gmaj7 is soft and stays put. One fret on the high E string makes the difference.
  • G#maj7 is a different chord a half step higher: G#, B#, D# and F## (B# sounds as C, F## as G). Not a variant of this one.

Frequently asked questions

How do you play Gmaj7/B on guitar?
Play x20002: second finger on the A string at fret 2 (B), fourth finger on the high E at fret 2 (F#), and let the D, G and B strings ring open. Do not play the low E.
What is the difference between Gmaj7 and Gmaj7/B?
Same notes, G, B, D and F#. Only the bass changes: Gmaj7 (3x0002) has G as its lowest note, Gmaj7/B (x20002) has B, the third. If the chart just says Gmaj7, play the version with G in the bass.
What notes are in Gmaj7/B?
G, B, D and F#, the notes of G major seventh, with B as the lowest note.
Is Gmaj7/B the same as G7/B?
No. G7/B would have F, not F#. On the open shape that is the high E at fret 1 instead of fret 2, and the sound goes from soft and floating to tense.
Yohann Abbou, guitar teacher and founder of Guitar Social Club

Who made this

Guitar Social Club is the work of Yohann Abbou, a guitar teacher in Paris who teaches adults. Every shape on this page is written string by string and checked against standard tuning, and the diagrams are drawn from those same fret numbers. The rest of our free guitar tools, including the chord finder, work the same way.

More about Yohann on his page, and about why Guitar Social Club exists.