Chord type
Major 9th Chords on Piano
The major 9th chord extends the major 7th by adding the ninth, creating one of the lushest, most beautiful chords in music. It is the quintessential jazz ballad and bossa nova voicing, with a dreamy, floating quality.
Pick a key to hear and see it below. Each key opens a full reference entry with a keyboard diagram, audio, inversions, fingerings, and notation.
Featured key
C Major 9th Chord
Notes: C - E - G - B - D
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Open the full C Major 9th Chord reference ›Formula: Root – Major 3rd – Perfect 5th – Major 7th – Major 9th
Scale degrees: 1–3–5–7–9
Sound: Lush, dreamy, sophisticated, beautiful
Symbol: maj9, M9, Δ9 (Cmaj9)
The jazz ballad chord: Cmaj9 is one of the most beautiful tonic voicings in music. It is warmer than Cmaj7 and more modern than C6/9. Drop the 5th for a clean voicing: root–third–seventh–ninth. Bossa nova, smooth jazz, and neo-soul all use maj9 as the default tonic.
Major 9th Chord in All 18 Keys
All 18 spellings, ♯ and ♭ keys listed separately.
C Major 9th ChordNotes: C – E – G – B – DC♯ Major 9th ChordNotes: C♯ – E♯ – G♯ – B♯ – D♯D♭ Major 9th ChordNotes: D♭ – F – A♭ – C – E♭D Major 9th ChordNotes: D – F♯ – A – C♯ – ED♯ Major 9th ChordNotes: D♯ – F♯♯ – A♯ – C♯♯ – E♯E♭ Major 9th ChordNotes: E♭ – G – B♭ – D – FE Major 9th ChordNotes: E – G♯ – B – D♯ – F♯F Major 9th ChordNotes: F – A – C – E – GF♯ Major 9th ChordNotes: F♯ – A♯ – C♯ – E♯ – G♯G♭ Major 9th ChordNotes: G♭ – B♭ – D♭ – F – A♭G Major 9th ChordNotes: G – B – D – F♯ – AG♯ Major 9th ChordNotes: G♯ – B♯ – D♯ – F♯♯ – A♯A♭ Major 9th ChordNotes: A♭ – C – E♭ – G – B♭A Major 9th ChordNotes: A – C♯ – E – G♯ – BA♯ Major 9th ChordNotes: A♯ – C♯♯ – E♯ – G♯♯ – B♯B♭ Major 9th ChordNotes: B♭ – D – F – A – CB Major 9th ChordNotes: B – D♯ – F♯ – A♯ – C♯C♭ Major 9th ChordNotes: C♭ – E♭ – G♭ – B♭ – D♭