Bbm9(maj7) — Bb 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 = Bb
- b3 = Db
- 5 = F
- 7 = A
- 9 = C
- Symbol
- Bbm9(maj7)
- Root
- Bb
- Quality
- Minor ninth major seventh
- Family
- extended
- Notes
- Bb Db F A C
- 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
- Bb · Bb major / G 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 | Bb | 0 | Perfect unison |
| b3 | Db | 3 | Minor third |
| 5 | F | 7 | Perfect fifth |
| 7 | A | 11 | Major seventh |
| 9 | C | 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 | Bb | 1 | Bb – Db – F – A – C | 0 3 7 11 2 |
| first inversion | Db | b3 | Db – F – A – C – Bb | 0 4 8 11 9 |
| second inversion | F | 5 | F – A – C – Bb – Db | 0 4 7 5 8 |
| third inversion | A | 7 | A – C – Bb – Db – F | 0 3 1 4 8 |
| fourth inversion | C | 9 | C – Bb – Db – F – A | 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 | 6-8-7-6-6-8 | Bb F A Db F C | 1 5 7 b3 5 9 | Bb | 2 | 6 |
| 2 | 6-3-3-6-6-5 | Bb C F Db F A | 1 9 5 b3 5 7 | Bb | 3 | 6 |
| 3 | 6-4-3-5-6-5 | Bb Db F C F A | 1 b3 5 9 5 7 | Bb | 3 | 6 |
| 4 | 6-4-7-5-6-5 | Bb Db A C F A | 1 b3 7 9 5 7 | Bb | 3 | 6 |
| 5 | 6-4-7-5-6-6 | Bb Db A C F Bb | 1 b3 7 9 5 1 | Bb | 3 | 6 |
| 6 | 6-3-3-2-2-5 | Bb C F A Db A | 1 9 5 7 b3 7 | Bb | 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 Bb
- ScaleBb melodic minor (ascending)
- ChordBbm9
- ChordBbm
- ChordBbm7
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