Gmaj9 guitar chord
The standard grips this chord is usually shown with.
- Tap a note to hear it
- Arrows change position
- Fingers, notes or intervals
- Play the chord
About Gmaj9 — 9th in bass
Gmaj9 is G, B, D, F# and A — Gmaj7 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.
Gmaj9 notes and formula
| G | B | D | F# | A |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 9 |
Tonic — an extended resting chord.
Also written GM9, GΔ9, Gma9 or G major 9. The same chord either way; which spelling you meet depends on who wrote the chart.
How to play Gmaj9
Gmaj9 in 9th in bass puts A in the bass instead of G, the 9th of the chord. The notes are the same; what changes is what the bass line does, which is most of why you would reach for it — it lets the lowest voice move by step where the root would have jumped.
One of Gmaj9’s 12 common shapes does this: x-12-12-12-12-14.
Start with 300002 — no barre and 4 open strings. 1 of the 12 shapes here sits in open position. 6 of the 12 need a barre. Together they cover the neck from the 2nd fret to the 15th.
| Frets | Where | Bass | Top | Hand |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 300002 | open position | G, root position | F# | 4 open strings |
| 324232 | 2nd fret | G, root position | F# | barred |
| 354435 | 3rd fret | G, root position | A | all fretted |
| xx4435 | 3rd fret | F#, 3rd inversion | A | all fretted |
| xx5475 | 4th fret | G, root position | A | all fretted |
| 755775 | 5th fret | B, 1st inversion | A | barred |
| x-10-7-7-7-7 | 7th fret | G, root position | B | barred |
| x-10-9-11-10-x | 9th fret | G, root position | A | all fretted |
| 10-10-9-11-10-x | 9th fret | D, 2nd inversion | A | barred |
| x-12-12-12-12-14 | 12th fret | A, 9th in the bass | F# | barred |
| x-x-12-14-12-14 | 12th fret | D, 2nd inversion | F# | all fretted |
| 15-12-12-12-12-14 | 12th fret | G, root position | F# | barred |
The same notes rebuilt from scratch give 3 shell, 12 drop 2, 9 drop 3, 14 rootless and 6 open string voicings, each on its own page.
Tensions. A shell of Gmaj9, root, third and seventh, leaves a string free, and the tones that belong over it are the #11 (C#) and the 13 (E).
How to use Gmaj9
How you get to it. The turn that lands on Gmaj9 is Am7 to D7 — the ii and the V of G — and D7 shares its third and seventh with Am7, so the hand barely moves between them.
In which keys. Every note of Gmaj9 belongs to D major (the IV, the subdominant), E minor (the ♭III), G major (the I, the tonic) and B minor (the ♭VI).
What to play over Gmaj9
Every note of Gmaj9 is in G major and G lydian.
Chords near Gmaj9
Change one note of Gmaj9 and you have Gmaj7 (drop the ninth), Gmaj11 (add the fourth), Gmaj13 (add the sixth), GmMaj9 (the major third becomes a minor third), Gadd9 (drop the major seventh) or G69 (the major seventh becomes a sixth).
Gmaj9 is a major chord — root, major third, fifth. Major chords on every root.
On Gmaj9’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.