A Minor Major 7th (Am(maj7))
Notes in A Minor Major 7th
Inversions
Same notes as A Minor Major 7th, with a different chord tone as the lowest note. Useful for smoother movement between chords instead of jumping around the keyboard.
Root position
A in the bass
1st inversion
C in the bass (Am(maj7)/C)
2nd inversion
E in the bass (Am(maj7)/E)
3rd inversion
G# in the bass (Am(maj7)/G#)
Open voicings
A close-position chord like A Minor Major 7th can sound cluttered in the middle of the keyboard. Jazz players open it up by dropping one note down an octave, spreading the same notes wider without changing the chord.
Drop 2
E on the bottom
Drop 3
C on the bottom
Press A, C, E and G# together on the keyboard and you're playing A Minor Major 7th.
A rarer hybrid: a minor triad topped with a major seventh instead of the expected minor one. It's moody in a very specific, unresolved way, and it's the sound most associated with spy-movie tension and certain noir moments in jazz and musical theater where a minor chord needs to feel unsettled rather than simply sad.