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