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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.

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