C#m9(maj7) — C# 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 = C#
- b3 = E
- 5 = G#
- 7 = B#
- 9 = D#
- Symbol
- C#m9(maj7)
- Root
- C#
- Quality
- Minor ninth major seventh
- Family
- extended
- Notes
- C# E G# B# D#
- 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
- 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 |
| b3 | E | 3 | Minor third |
| 5 | G# | 7 | Perfect fifth |
| 7 | B# | 11 | Major seventh |
| 9 | D# | 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 | C# | 1 | C# – E – G# – B# – D# | 0 3 7 11 2 |
| first inversion | E | b3 | E – G# – B# – D# – C# | 0 4 8 11 9 |
| second inversion | G# | 5 | G# – B# – D# – C# – E | 0 4 7 5 8 |
| third inversion | B# | 7 | B# – D# – C# – E – G# | 0 3 1 4 8 |
| fourth inversion | D# | 9 | D# – C# – E – G# – B# | 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 | 9-11-10-9-9-11 | C# G# C E G# D# | 1 5 7 b3 5 9 | C# | 2 | 6 |
| 2 | 9-6-6-9-9-8 | C# D# G# E G# C | 1 9 5 b3 5 7 | C# | 3 | 6 |
| 3 | 9-7-6-8-9-8 | C# E G# D# G# C | 1 b3 5 9 5 7 | C# | 3 | 6 |
| 4 | 9-7-10-8-9-8 | C# E C D# G# C | 1 b3 7 9 5 7 | C# | 3 | 6 |
| 5 | 9-7-10-8-9-9 | C# E C D# G# C# | 1 b3 7 9 5 1 | C# | 3 | 6 |
| 6 | 9-6-6-5-5-8 | C# D# G# C E C | 1 9 5 7 b3 7 | C# | 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 C#
- ScaleC# melodic minor (ascending)
- ChordC#m9
- ChordC#m
- ChordC#m7
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