Bbmaj9 guitar chord
An open string left ringing against a fretted grip. Because it costs no finger, it sounds a note the closed shape has none left for -- a tension on top, or a pedal root underneath. Either a familiar grip with open strings added, or a shape so sparse the open strings carry the chord. These belong to their key rather than to a shape, so D, A, G and E have many and Eb a handful.
- Tap a note to hear it
- Arrows change position
- Fingers, notes or intervals
- Play the chord
About Bbmaj9 — open string voicings
Bbmaj9 is Bb, D, F, A and C — Bbmaj7 with the ninth stacked above it.
It sounds a maj7 with more air in it. The ninth argues with nothing here, so it works anywhere a maj7 does.
Bbmaj9 notes and formula
| Bb | D | F | A | C |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 9 |
Tonic — an extended resting chord.
Also written BbM9, BbΔ9, Bbma9 or Bb major 9. The same chord either way; which spelling you meet depends on who wrote the chart.
How to play Bbmaj9
An open string left ringing against a fretted grip. It costs no finger, so it can sound a note the closed shape has none left for: a tension on top, or a pedal root underneath.
These belong to their key rather than to a shape: they cannot be moved up the neck. D, A, G and E have many; E♭ has a handful.
Bbmaj9 has 5 of them, on strings 5-4-3-2-1, the bottom four strings and the middle four strings, from the 2nd fret up to the 5th — every inversion the chord has: D in the bass, A in the bass and C in the bass. The one to learn first is the C shape at the 2nd fret, which is the easiest grip here.
3 of them sit on strings 5-4-3-2-1, so you can run the inversions up one set without changing strings — which is the whole reason to learn them as a family rather than as separate grips.
Start with xx3535 — no barre and low, at the 3rd fret. 1 of the 12 shapes here sits in open position. 7 of the 12 need a barre. Together they cover the neck from the 1st fret to the 14th.
| Frets | Where | Bass | Top | Hand |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11021x | open position | F, 2nd inversion | C | barred |
| x33335 | 3rd fret | C, 9th in the bass | A | barred |
| xx3535 | 3rd fret | F, 2nd inversion | A | all fretted |
| 633335 | 3rd fret | Bb, root position | A | barred |
| 657565 | 5th fret | Bb, root position | A | barred |
| 687768 | 6th fret | Bb, root position | C | all fretted |
| xx7768 | 6th fret | A, 3rd inversion | C | all fretted |
| x-x-8-7-10-8 | 7th fret | Bb, root position | C | all fretted |
| 10-8-8-10-10-8 | 8th fret | D, 1st inversion | C | barred |
| x-13-10-10-10-10 | 10th fret | Bb, root position | D | barred |
| x-13-12-14-13-x | 12th fret | Bb, root position | C | all fretted |
| 13-13-12-14-13-x | 12th fret | F, 2nd inversion | C | barred |
The same notes rebuilt from scratch give 5 shell, 13 drop 2, 8 drop 3 and 15 rootless voicings, each on its own page.
Tensions. A shell of Bbmaj9, root, third and seventh, leaves a string free, and the tones that belong over it are the #11 (E) and the 13 (G).
How to use Bbmaj9
How you get to it. The turn that lands on Bbmaj9 is Cm7 to F7 — the ii and the V of Bb — and F7 shares its third and seventh with Cm7, so the hand barely moves between them.
In which keys. Every note of Bbmaj9 belongs to D minor (the ♭VI), F major (the IV, the subdominant), G minor (the ♭III) and Bb major (the I, the tonic).
What to play over Bbmaj9
Every note of Bbmaj9 is in Bb major and Bb lydian.
Chords near Bbmaj9
Change one note of Bbmaj9 and you have Bbmaj7 (drop the ninth), Bbmaj11 (add the fourth), Bbmaj13 (add the sixth), BbmMaj9 (the major third becomes a minor third), Bbadd9 (drop the major seventh) or Bb69 (the major seventh becomes a sixth).
Bbmaj9 is a major chord — root, major third, fifth. Major chords on every root.
On Bbmaj9’s sound and use this page follows Mark Levine, The Jazz Theory Book (Sher Music, 1995). The shapes and the derived voicings come from different places, and both are explained in where the chords and the theory come from.