Bmaj9

Bmaj9 is B, D#, F#, A# and C#, a major ninth. The shape this page opens on is written x2132x, lowest string first.

Note by note. B is the root, D# is the major third, F# is the fifth, A# is the major seventh and C# is the ninth.

Also written BM9, BΔ9, Bma9 or B major 9. The same chord either way; which spelling you meet depends on who wrote the chart.

There are 12 common shapes for Bmaj9 on the guitar, and 38 derived voicings in 4 families.

One note away. Change a single note of Bmaj9 and you have Bmaj7 (with one note taken away), Bmaj11 (with one note added), Bmaj13 (with one note added), BmMaj9 (with one note moved), Badd9 (with one note taken away) or B69 (with one note moved).

In which keys. Every note of Bmaj9 belongs to Eb minor (the ♭VI), F# major (the IV), Ab minor (the ♭III) and B major (the I).

The common shapes, written lowest string first: x2132x, 22132x, x44446, xx4646, 744446, 768676, 798879, xx8879, x-x-9-8-11-9, 11-9-9-11-11-9, x-14-11-11-11-11, x-14-13-15-14-x.

Under the hand. None of the shapes for Bmaj9 uses an open string, so every one of them is movable; the lowest sits at the 1st fret. 6 of the 12 need a barre. Together they cover the neck from the 1st fret to the 15th.

Shell. Root, third and seventh: the guide tones fix the quality, so the fifth is dropped. That is what leaves a string free, so pick a tension to put on top. Bmaj9 has x2132x, 7686xx, x-14-13-15-14-x, x-x-9-8-11-9.

Drop 2. A close-position chord with the second voice from the top lowered an octave. Sits on four adjacent strings. Bmaj9 has x2132x, 7686xx, x-14-13-15-14-x, x4844x, xx8647, x-x-9-8-11-9, 11-14-11-15-x-x, x-x-11-15-12-11.

Drop 3. The third voice from the top lowered an octave. The dropped voice becomes the bass, which is why a string is skipped. Bmaj9 has x4x446, 7x864x, 9-x-9-8-11-x, x-14-x-15-14-11, 11-x-11-15-12-x, 6x142x, x-6-x-6-11-7, x-13-x-8-12-9.

Rootless. The root left to the bass player. Frees a finger for a tension. Bmaj9 has xx1322, x4434x, xx4646, x6867x, xx8879, x-x-11-11-11-11, x-x-13-15-14-14, x4x342.

Tensions. A shell of Bmaj9, root, third and seventh, leaves a string free, and the tones that belong over it are the #11 (E#) and the 13 (G#).

What kind of chord this is. Bmaj9 is a major chord — root, major third, fifth. major chords on every root, and what they are for.

The common shapes and the derived voicings come from different places, and both are explained in where the chords and the theory come from.