EmMaj9 guitar chord
The third voice from the top lowered an octave. The dropped voice becomes the bass, which is why a string is skipped.
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About EmMaj9 — drop 3 voicings
EmMaj9 is E, G, B, D# and F# — EmMaj7 with the ninth added on top.
It sounds the same unease with more colour over it. The ninth softens the edge without resolving anything.
EmMaj9 notes and formula
| E | G | B | D# | F# |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ♭3 | 5 | 7 | 9 |
Minor tonic — melodic minor, extended.
Also written EmM9, Em(maj9) or E-Δ9. The same chord either way; which spelling you meet depends on who wrote the chart.
How to play EmMaj9
The same operation one voice further down: the third voice from the top falls an octave and becomes the bass.
That leaves a bigger hole under the top three notes, so a string gets skipped: the muted string in the middle is the shape, not a mistake.
EmMaj9 has 6 of them, on strings 6-4-3-2 and strings 5-3-2-1, from the 2nd fret up to the 8th — every inversion the chord has: E in the bass, G in the bass, D# in the bass and F# in the bass. The one to learn first is the F# shape at the 2nd fret.
3 of them sit on strings 6-4-3-2, 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 021002 — no barre and 3 open strings. 2 of the 9 shapes here sit in open position. 4 of the 9 need a barre. Together they cover the neck from the 1st fret to the 14th.
| Frets | Where | Bass | Top | Hand |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 021002 | open position | E, root position | F# | 3 open strings |
| 0x4443 | open position | E, root position | G | barred |
| 222443 | 2nd fret | F#, 9th in the bass | G | barred |
| x7587x | 5th fret | E, root position | F# | all fretted |
| 0-10-9-8-7-0 | 7th fret | E, root position | F# | 2 open strings |
| 7-10-9-8-7-7 | 7th fret | B, 2nd inversion | B | barred |
| 12-10-x-11-12-11 | 10th fret | E, root position | D# | all fretted |
| 12-10-13-11-x-x | 10th fret | E, root position | F# | all fretted |
| 12-14-13-12-12-14 | 12th fret | E, root position | F# | barred |
The same notes rebuilt from scratch give 4 shell, 9 drop 2, 13 rootless and 6 open string voicings, each on its own page.
Tensions. A shell of EmMaj9, root, third and seventh, leaves a string free, and the tones that belong over it are the 11 (A) and the 13 (C#).
How to use EmMaj9
How you get to it. The turn that lands on EmMaj9 is F#m7♭5 to B7♭9: the ii and the V of E minor, which is where a minor tonic is usually arrived at rather than simply begun on.
What to play over EmMaj9
Every note of EmMaj9 is in E harmonic minor and E melodic minor.
Chords near EmMaj9
Change one note of EmMaj9 and you have Emaj9 (the minor third becomes a major third), Em69 (the major seventh becomes a sixth), Em9 (the major seventh becomes a flat seventh), EmMaj7 (drop the ninth), EmMaj11 (add the fourth) or Em/D# (drop the ninth).
EmMaj9 is a minor chord — root, minor third, fifth. Minor chords on every root.
On EmMaj9’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.