Ninths
C major 9th chord
Rich and dreamy; the major 7th extended with a 9th.
- Notes
- CEGBD
- Formula
- 13579
- Built from
- root · major 3rd · perfect 5th · major 7th · major 9th
How to play Cmaj9
About the C major 9th chord
Playing it
On guitar, Cmaj9 is one of the friendlier shapes: x30000 needs just one finger and lets the open strings ring. Don’t strum the low E string.
On piano, Cmaj9 sits entirely on white keys. In root position it spans more than an octave, so many pianists play the root with the left hand and the rest with the right.
On ukulele the usual Cmaj9 shape is 0202, using two fingers. It leaves out the root, which a bass player (or your ear) fills in.
