Am9(maj7) — A minor ninth major seventh chord
A minor major seventh chord with the ninth added. The ninth and the major seventh are a semitone apart, which is what gives the chord its density.
- 1 = A
- b3 = C
- 5 = E
- 7 = G#
- 9 = B
- Symbol
- Am9(maj7)
- Root
- A
- Quality
- Minor ninth major seventh
- Family
- extended
- Notes
- A C E G# B
- Degree formula
1 b3 5 7 9- Semitones from the root
0 2 3 7 11- Distinct pitch classes
- 5
- Interval structure
- Stacked from the root: 3 semitones, 4 semitones, 4 semitones, 3 semitones
- Notation
- Written m9(maj7). Common on the tonic of a minor key in modern jazz.
- Key
- A · A major / F# minor key signature
Formula
The chord tones in order from the root, with the interval each one forms above it.
| Degree | Note | Semitones | Interval from the root |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A | 0 | Perfect unison |
| b3 | C | 3 | Minor third |
| 5 | E | 7 | Perfect fifth |
| 7 | G# | 11 | Major seventh |
| 9 | B | 2 | Major second |
Inversions
An inversion is the same set of notes with a different one in the bass. The last column gives the distance of each note above the bass note, in semitones.
| Inversion | Bass note | Degree in the bass | Notes above the bass | Semitones above the bass |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| root position | A | 1 | A – C – E – G# – B | 0 3 7 11 2 |
| first inversion | C | b3 | C – E – G# – B – A | 0 4 8 11 9 |
| second inversion | E | 5 | E – G# – B – A – C | 0 4 7 5 8 |
| third inversion | G# | 7 | G# – B – A – C – E | 0 3 1 4 8 |
| fourth inversion | B | 9 | B – A – C – E – G# | 0 10 1 5 9 |
Playable voicings
These shapes were found by searching the fretboard of a standard-tuned guitar (E A D G B E) rather than copied from a chord book. The search allows every string to sound or to be muted, rejects any shape with a muted string between two sounding strings, rejects any shape whose fretted notes span more than four frets (a five-fret window), requires every chord tone to be present, and then sorts what remains with root-position shapes first and the most compact, lowest shapes next. The shapes shown are the first six of that ordering; other orderings are possible at the same frets.
| # | Shape (low string first) | Notes | Degrees | Bass | Span (frets) | Sounding strings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5-7-6-5-5-7 | A E G# C E B | 1 5 7 b3 5 9 | A | 2 | 6 |
| 2 | 5-2-2-5-5-4 | A B E C E G# | 1 9 5 b3 5 7 | A | 3 | 6 |
| 3 | 5-3-2-4-5-4 | A C E B E G# | 1 b3 5 9 5 7 | A | 3 | 6 |
| 4 | 5-3-6-4-5-4 | A C G# B E G# | 1 b3 7 9 5 7 | A | 3 | 6 |
| 5 | 5-3-6-4-5-5 | A C G# B E A | 1 b3 7 9 5 1 | A | 3 | 6 |
| 6 | 5-2-2-1-1-4 | A B E G# C G# | 1 9 5 7 b3 7 | A | 4 | 6 |
Shape numbers run from the lowest string to the highest, so the left-hand number is the sixth string (low E) in standard tuning. Multiple shapes are listed because a chord can be voiced several ways, and because a lower position is not always the better sounding one.
Related chords and scales
- KeyEverything in A
- ScaleA melodic minor (ascending)
- ChordAm9
- ChordAm
- ChordAm7
Related
- KeyKey of A
- ScaleA melodic minor (ascending)
- ChordAm9 — Minor ninth
- ChordAm — Minor
- ChordAm7 — Minor seventh
- ChordA11 — Dominant eleventh
- ChordA13 — Dominant thirteenth
- ChordA9 — Dominant ninth