Fmaj9 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 Fmaj9 — open string voicings
Fmaj9 is F, A, C, E and G — Fmaj7 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.
Fmaj9 notes and formula
| F | A | C | E | G |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 9 |
Tonic — an extended resting chord.
Also written FM9, FΔ9, Fma9 or F major 9. The same chord either way; which spelling you meet depends on who wrote the chart.
How to play Fmaj9
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.
Fmaj9 has 6 of them, on strings 6-5-4-3-2-1, strings 6-5-4-3-2 and strings 6-4-3-2-1, from the 2nd fret up to the 5th — every inversion the chord has: A in the bass, E in the bass and G in the bass. The one to learn first is the E shape at the 3rd fret, which is the easiest grip here.
3 of them sit on strings 6-5-4-3-2-1, 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 102010 — no barre and 3 open strings. 1 of the 13 shapes here sits in open position. 6 of the 13 need a barre. Together they cover the neck from the 1st fret to the 15th.
| Frets | Where | Bass | Top | Hand |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 102010 | open position | F, root position | E | 3 open strings |
| 132213 | 1st fret | F, root position | G | all fretted |
| xx2213 | 1st fret | E, 3rd inversion | G | all fretted |
| xx3253 | 2nd fret | F, root position | G | all fretted |
| 533553 | 3rd fret | A, 1st inversion | G | barred |
| x85555 | 5th fret | F, root position | A | barred |
| x8798x | 7th fret | F, root position | G | all fretted |
| 88798x | 7th fret | C, 2nd inversion | G | barred |
| x-10-10-10-10-12 | 10th fret | G, 9th in the bass | E | barred |
| x-x-10-12-10-12 | 10th fret | C, 2nd inversion | E | all fretted |
| 13-10-10-10-10-12 | 10th fret | F, root position | E | barred |
| 13-12-14-12-13-12 | 12th fret | F, root position | E | barred |
| 13-x-14-14-13-15 | 13th fret | F, root position | G | all fretted |
The same notes rebuilt from scratch give 4 shell, 13 drop 2, 8 drop 3 and 15 rootless voicings, each on its own page.
Tensions. A shell of Fmaj9, root, third and seventh, leaves a string free, and the tones that belong over it are the #11 (B) and the 13 (D).
How to use Fmaj9
How you get to it. The turn that lands on Fmaj9 is Gm7 to C7 — the ii and the V of F — and C7 shares its third and seventh with Gm7, so the hand barely moves between them.
In which keys. Every note of Fmaj9 belongs to C major (the IV, the subdominant), D minor (the ♭III), F major (the I, the tonic) and A minor (the ♭VI).
What to play over Fmaj9
Every note of Fmaj9 is in F major and F lydian.
Chords near Fmaj9
Change one note of Fmaj9 and you have Fmaj7 (drop the ninth), Fmaj11 (add the fourth), Fmaj13 (add the sixth), FmMaj9 (the major third becomes a minor third), Fadd9 (drop the major seventh) or F69 (the major seventh becomes a sixth).
Fmaj9 is a major chord — root, major third, fifth. Major chords on every root.
On Fmaj9’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.