Cmaj9 — C major ninth chord
A major seventh chord with the ninth added. The interval between the ninth and the major seventh is a minor second, which is what gives the chord its colour.
- 1 = C
- 9 = D
- 3 = E
- 5 = G
- 7 = B
- Symbol
- Cmaj9
- Root
- C
- Quality
- Major ninth
- Family
- extended
- Notes
- C D E G B
- Degree formula
1 9 3 5 7- Semitones from the root
0 2 4 7 11- Distinct pitch classes
- 5
- Interval structure
- Stacked from the root: 2 semitones, 2 semitones, 3 semitones, 4 semitones
- Notation
- Written maj9. A common tonic chord in jazz and in contemporary soul.
- Key
- C · C major / A 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 | C | 0 | Perfect unison |
| 9 | D | 2 | Major second |
| 3 | E | 4 | Major third |
| 5 | G | 7 | Perfect fifth |
| 7 | B | 11 | Major seventh |
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 | C | 1 | C – D – E – G – B | 0 2 4 7 11 |
| first inversion | D | 9 | D – E – G – B – C | 0 2 5 9 10 |
| second inversion | E | 3 | E – G – B – C – D | 0 3 7 8 10 |
| third inversion | G | 5 | G – B – C – D – E | 0 4 5 7 9 |
| fourth inversion | B | 7 | B – C – D – E – G | 0 1 3 5 8 |
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 | 8-7-9-7-8-7 | C E B D G B | 1 3 7 9 5 7 | C | 2 | 6 |
| 2 | 8-7-9-7-8-8 | C E B D G C | 1 3 7 9 5 1 | C | 2 | 6 |
| 3 | 8-10-9-9-8-10 | C G B E G D | 1 5 7 3 5 9 | C | 2 | 6 |
| 4 | 8-5-5-5-5-7 | C D G C E B | 1 9 5 1 3 7 | C | 3 | 6 |
| 5 | 8-5-5-7-5-7 | C D G D E B | 1 9 5 9 3 7 | C | 3 | 6 |
| 6 | 8-7-5-7-5-7 | C E G D E B | 1 3 5 9 3 7 | C | 3 | 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 C
- ScaleC major
- ChordCmaj7
Related
- KeyKey of C
- ScaleC major
- ChordCmaj7 — Major seventh
- ChordC11 — Dominant eleventh
- ChordC13 — Dominant thirteenth
- ChordC9 — Dominant ninth
- DegreesC — degree map
- Neck mapC — note map