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My first steps to learning Major 9th Chords on Guitar

By Mike Hayes | December 8, 2009

Don’t be put off by the complicated looking chord name, major 9th
chords are easy to play and they can add a beautiful lush texture
to your guitar playing.

If you already know how to play the major triad and major 7th
chord you are ready to add this fresh and sophisticated sounding
chord to your collection.

Chord review:

Essentially chords can be created by stacking notes from a scale
on top of each other in a layer cake fashion to produce chords of
varying degrees of complexity depending on how make times you
stack the notes.

The most popular way to create chords is to stack notes a third
apart.

Like this …

C major scale: C – D – E – F – G – A – B – C

By selecting notes from the scale that are a distance of a third
apart [C] – D – [E] – F – [G] – A – B – C we produce chords.

[C] – D – [E] – F – [G] – A – B – C the notes C-E-G = C major

C – [D] – E – [F] – G – [A] – B – C the notes D-F-A = Dm

C – D – [E] – F – [G] – A – [B] – C the notes E-G-B = Em

The idea is to create chord families that are unique to a
particular scale and key.

Ex 1. Triadic (three note) chord family in the key of C major.

C – Dm – Em – F- G – Am – Bdim – C

Ex 2. Scaletone seventh (four note) chord family in the key of C
major.

CMaj7 – Dm7 – Em7 – FMaj7 – G7 – Am7 – Bm7b5 – CMaj7

By continuing to stack notes at a distance of a third we create a
five note harmonized version of our original scale.

Ex 3. Five note chord family in the key of C

CMaj9 – Dm9 – Em7b9 – FMaj9 – G9 – Bm7b5b9 – CMaj9

These chords have complex looking names but upon closer
inspection are quite simple to play.

Here’s how we would spell CMaj9 …

C major scale: [C] – D – [E] – F – [G] – A – [B] – C – [D]

CMaj9 = C-E-G-B-D

Notice how I had to extend the C major scale to continue our
thirds selection.

Since five note chords are difficult to play on the guitar we
have to omit certain notes form the chord while still retaining
the original character of the chord.

Important: you can always drop the 5th note of any chord!

Hence our new easy ‘guitar friendly’ version of the CMaj9 chord
would be … CMaj9 = C-E-B-D , notice how we have omitted the ‘G’
note which is the 5th of the CMaj9 chord.

Here’s a simple and effective chord voicing for CMaj9

CMaj9
—-x—–
—-3—–
—-4—–
—-2—–
—-3—–
—-x—–

With this particular chord shape the keynote (root note) is on
string five which means when you move this chord shape around the
fingerboard whatever note is under your finger on the fifth
string will give the chord it’s name.

Consequently if you moved the chord shape up two frets; your
finger would be covering the keynote ‘D’ on the fifth fret, fifth
string therefore the chord would be identified as DMaj9.

Move the shape up another two frets and we would have an EMaj9
chord.

Bonus tip: I recommend the following fingering for the CMaj9
chord.

First finger = fourth string, second fret (e)

Second finger = fifth string, third fret (c – root note/keynote)

Third finger = second string, third fret (d)

Fourth finger = third string, fourth fret (b)

Major 9th application: can be used as a substitute for a major or
major 7th chord

Try Major 9th chord out in some of your existing repertoire, I’m
sure you will find many applications for this great sounding
chord, who knows it might be just the chord you need to help you
create your unique style on guitar.

And now I’d like to invite you to get free access to my “How To
Remember 1,000 Songs” eCourse. You can download the course for
free at: http://www.guitarcoaching.com

You’ll learn about hit song templates, easy chords,
simple scales, red hot rhythms, and successful practice
strategies in text, audio and video.

From Mike Hayes – The Guitar Coaching Guy & the Express Guitar
System

Topics: Beginner Guitar Lesson, Guitar Chords, Guitar Tips, Learn And Master Guitar | No Comments »

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