Bm9(maj7) — B 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 = B
- b3 = D
- 5 = F#
- 7 = A#
- 9 = C#
- Symbol
- Bm9(maj7)
- Root
- B
- Quality
- Minor ninth major seventh
- Family
- extended
- Notes
- B D 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
- B · B 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 | B | 0 | Perfect unison |
| b3 | D | 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 | B | 1 | B – D – F# – A# – C# | 0 3 7 11 2 |
| first inversion | D | b3 | D – F# – A# – C# – B | 0 4 8 11 9 |
| second inversion | F# | 5 | F# – A# – C# – B – D | 0 4 7 5 8 |
| third inversion | A# | 7 | A# – C# – B – D – F# | 0 3 1 4 8 |
| fourth inversion | C# | 9 | C# – B – D – 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 | 7-9-8-7-7-9 | B F# A# D F# C# | 1 5 7 b3 5 9 | B | 2 | 6 |
| 2 | 7-4-4-7-7-6 | B C# F# D F# A# | 1 9 5 b3 5 7 | B | 3 | 6 |
| 3 | 7-5-4-6-7-6 | B D F# C# F# A# | 1 b3 5 9 5 7 | B | 3 | 6 |
| 4 | 7-5-8-6-7-6 | B D A# C# F# A# | 1 b3 7 9 5 7 | B | 3 | 6 |
| 5 | 7-5-8-6-7-7 | B D A# C# F# B | 1 b3 7 9 5 1 | B | 3 | 6 |
| 6 | 7-4-4-3-3-6 | B C# F# A# D A# | 1 9 5 7 b3 7 | B | 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 B
- ScaleB melodic minor (ascending)
- ChordBm9
- ChordBm
- ChordBm7
Related
- KeyKey of B
- ScaleB melodic minor (ascending)
- ChordBm9 — Minor ninth
- ChordBm — Minor
- ChordBm7 — Minor seventh
- ChordB11 — Dominant eleventh
- ChordB13 — Dominant thirteenth
- ChordB9 — Dominant ninth