CHORD REFERENCE

Cmaj9

C – E – G – B – D1 3 5 7 9

The C Major 9th chord and everything around it — the notes and how they are built, the shape on piano and guitar, the sound, and the keys it belongs to.

Notes
C1E3G5B7D9

Cmaj9 is C, E, G, B, D — the 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9 above the root C.

Piano
CEGBD
Guitar

Guitar — every position (frets 0–12)

357912eEGBCDEBBCDEGBGGBCDEGDDEGBCDABCDEGEEGBCDE

Root notes are red. There is no standard open shape for this chord — any group of these notes on the neck sounds the chord.

Ukulele (standard G–C–E–A)

357912ABCDEGEEGBCDECCDEGBCGGBCDEG

Every position of the chord tones on the ukulele neck — any group that sounds only C, E, G, B, D plays the chord.

In which keys

Cmaj9 is a diatonic chord in these keys:

IC majorIVG major♭VIE minor♭IIIA minor
Other C chords

Triads

CMajorCmMinorC5Power Chord (5)CdimDiminishedCaugAugmentedCsus2Suspended 2ndCsus4Suspended 4th

Sixths & sevenths

C6Major 6thCm6Minor 6thC7Dominant 7thCmaj7Major 7thCm7Minor 7thCm(maj7)Minor–Major 7thCdim7Diminished 7thCm7♭5Half-Diminished (m7♭5)C7sus47sus4

Altered dominants

C7♭57♭5C7♯57♯5 (Augmented 7th)C7♭97♭9C7♯97♯9 (Hendrix Chord)

Extended & added

Cadd9Added 9thC6/96/9C9Dominant 9thCm9Minor 9thC11Dominant 11thC13Dominant 13th
Major 9th on another root
CC♯D♭DE♭EFF♯G♭GA♭AB♭B
Keep exploring

Work out the chords of a whole key with the Scale & Chord Finder, name a chord from its notes with the Chord Identifier, or browse every chord tool. The theory behind how chords are built is in the free Cloud Atelier music guides.