# F Major 9th piano chord (Fmaj9)

Fmaj9 contains F, A, C, E and G. A major seventh with the ninth added on top. Every note is a white key.

- Canonical page: https://piano.org/chords/major-9th/f/
- Entity: chord:major-9th:f
- Notes: F A C E G
- Formula: 1 3 5 7 9
- Intervals from root: P1, M3, P5, M7, M9
- Interval stack (semitones): 4 3 4 3
- Also written: Fmaj9, Fmaj9, F major 9th
- Parameters: A440, 12-TET, 165 mm octave, spans centre to centre

## Construction

| Degree | Note | Interval from root | Semitones |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | F | Perfect unison | 0 |
| 3 | A | Major third | 4 |
| 5 | C | Perfect fifth | 7 |
| 7 | E | Major seventh | 11 |
| 9 | G | Major ninth | 14 |

## Fingering

Rest your right hand over the notes with finger 1 on F, finger 2 on A, finger 3 on C, finger 4 on E, finger 5 on G. The left hand mirrors it.
Right hand 1-2-3-4-5, left hand 5-4-3-2-1. Source: piano.org fingering method v1.

## Inversions

| Position | Bass | Notes in order | Figured bass | Span |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Root position | F | F3 A3 C4 E4 G4 | 9 | 14 st, 193 mm |
| First inversion (Fmaj9/A) | A | A3 C4 E4 F4 G4 | 7/6/5 | 10 st, 138 mm |
| Second inversion (Fmaj9/C) | C | C4 E4 F4 G4 A4 | 7/4/3 | 9 st, 124 mm |
| Third inversion (Fmaj9/E) | E | E4 F4 G4 A4 C5 | 7/4/2 | 8 st, 110 mm |
| Fourth inversion (Fmaj9/G) | G | G3 A3 C4 E4 F4 | 9/7/5 | 10 st, 138 mm |

## Voicings (11)

| Voicing | Notes | Span | Relation | Omits or adds |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Close, root position | F3 A3 C4 E4 G4 | 14 st, 193 mm | identical | none |
| Close, first inversion | A3 C4 E4 F4 G4 | 10 st, 138 mm | identical | none |
| Close, second inversion | C4 E4 F4 G4 A4 | 9 st, 124 mm | identical | none |
| Close, third inversion | E4 F4 G4 A4 C5 | 8 st, 110 mm | identical | none |
| Close, fourth inversion | G3 A3 C4 E4 F4 | 10 st, 138 mm | identical | none |
| Drop 2 | E3 F3 A3 C4 G4 | 15 st, 206 mm | identical | none |
| Drop 3 | C3 F3 A3 E4 G4 | 19 st, 261 mm | identical | none |
| Drop 2 and 4 | A2 E3 F3 C4 G4 | 22 st, 303 mm | identical | none |
| Shell, root 9 3 | F2 G3 A3 | 16 st, 220 mm | subset | omits C |
| Guide tones, 3 and 9 | A3 G4 | 10 st, 138 mm | subset | omits F and C |
| Rootless close | A3 C4 E4 G4 | 10 st, 138 mm | subset | omits F |

## One-edit neighbors

| Becomes | Edit | Changes | Common tones |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Fmaj7 | 1 3 5 7 | drops G | 4 |
| Fadd9 | 1 3 5 9 | drops E | 4 |
| F9 | 1 3 5 ♭7 9 | E becomes E♭ | 4 |
| F7 | 1 3 5 ♭7 | E, G becomes E♭ | 3 |
| FmMaj7 | 1 ♭3 5 7 | A, G becomes A♭ | 3 |
| F6 | 1 3 5 6 | E, G becomes D | 3 |
| Fm9 | 1 ♭3 5 ♭7 9 | A, E becomes A♭, E♭ | 3 |

## Set theory

- Absolute pitch classes: {5, 9, 0, 4, 7}
- Relative pitch classes: [0, 4, 7, 11, 2]
- Normal order: [4, 5, 7, 9, 0]
- Prime form: (01358)
- Forte number: not claimed for this cardinality
- Interval vector: <122230>

## Frequencies (close root position)

| Note | MIDI | Frequency |
| --- | --- | --- |
| F3 | 53 | 174.61 Hz |
| A3 | 57 | 220.00 Hz |
| C4 | 60 | 261.63 Hz |
| E4 | 64 | 329.63 Hz |
| G4 | 67 | 392.00 Hz |

## Questions and answers

### What notes are in Fmaj9?

Fmaj9 contains F, A, C, E and G. The formula is 1, 3, 5, 7, 9.

### How do you play Fmaj9 on piano?

Play F, A, C, E and G together. Right hand fingers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5; left hand 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Every note is a white key.

### What are the inversions of Fmaj9?

5 positions: root position F A C E G, Fmaj9/A, Fmaj9/C, Fmaj9/E, Fmaj9/G.

### What is the difference between Fmaj9 and Fmaj7?

Drops G. 4 of the notes are shared.

### What is an easy Fmaj9 for small hands?

The close, third inversion voicing, E4 F4 G4 A4 C5, spans 8 semitones or about 110 mm.

### What are the frequencies of Fmaj9?

From F3 at A440 in 12-TET: 174.61, 220.00, 261.63, 329.63, 392.00 Hz.

### What is the set class of Fmaj9?

Prime form (01358), interval vector &lt;122230&gt;.

### How do I transpose Fmaj9 to another key?

Keep the 1, 3, 5, 7, 9 formula on the new root. Cmaj9 is C, E, G, B, D; C♯maj9 is C♯, E♯, G♯, B♯, D♯.

## Provenance

Every derived value above is computed by the piano.org theory kernel from the root, the quality and the stated parameters. Nothing is hand-entered per chord.

Machine record: https://piano.org/api/knowledge/v1/entities/chord:major-9th:f
Last reviewed: 2026-08-12