Guitar chord · Ninths
C♯ major 9th chord on guitar
x41111 · Barre · 1st fret
All 5 shapes, tab & fingering ↓
5 ways to play C♯maj9 on guitar, with finger positions, tabs and step-by-step instructions.
Rich and dreamy; the major 7th extended with a 9th.
- Notes
- C♯E♯G♯B♯D♯
- Formula
- 13579
- Built from
- root · major 3rd · perfect 5th · major 7th · major 9th
Guitar
Standard tuning (E A D G B E) · 5 voicings · E string on the left · Other tunings →
How to play it · Barre · 1st fret
- Lay your index finger (1) flat across 4 strings at the 1st fret — this is the barre.
- 6th string (low E): don’t play — mute it
- 5th string (A): 4th fret, pinky finger (4) C♯
- 4th string (D): 1st fret, held by the barre D♯
- 3rd string (G): 1st fret, held by the barre G♯
- 2nd string (B): 1st fret, held by the barre B♯
- 1st string (high E): 1st fret, held by the barre E♯
Tablature
e|--1---| B|--1---| G|--1---| D|--1---| A|--4---| E|--x---|
Top line is the high E string. x = don’t play, 0 = open string.
Every C♯maj9 note on the guitar neck
Bright dots are the selected voicing — the rest are other places you can find the same chord tones.
Tips for playing C♯maj9 on guitar
There’s no open-string way to play C♯maj9 on guitar with the root in the bass, so the standard shape is a barre across the 1st fret (x41111).
Notice the E♯ in C♯maj9 (C♯ E♯ G♯ B♯ D♯): each note of the chord takes its own letter (C–E–G–B–D), so the major 3rd has to be written E♯ rather than F — the same key on a piano, spelled to fit the chord.
