What notes are in the Bb Minor/major ninth chord?

The Bb Minor/major ninth chord contains the notes Bb · Db · F · A · C: the root Bb with the intervals 1P, 3m, 5P, 7M, 9M stacked above it. Play them together for the chord or one after another for an arpeggio. The lowest note is normally Bb, but any chord tone can take the bass in an inversion.

What intervals make up the Bb Minor/major ninth chord?

Measured from Bb, the Bb Minor/major ninth chord stacks the intervals 1P, 3m, 5P, 7M, 9M. The quality of the third and of the seventh, if there is one, is what gives the chord its character; the rest of the notes colour it. Every interval in the formula links to its own page, with its sound.

How do I play the Bb Minor/major ninth chord?

On guitar the most common Bb Minor/major ninth shape is 687668, read from the lowest string to the highest; the instrument panel above shows several more with their fingerings. On piano play Bb3 · Db4 · F4 · A4 · C5 with the right hand, or move the root down into the left hand and keep the rest above it. Every shape on this page plays when you press it.

Bb Minor/Major Ninth Chord (BbmMaj9): Notes, Piano & Guitar

Play it on your instrument

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Voicings on the piano

Voicing	Notes	Play it on your instrument
Closed, root position	Bb3 · Db4 · F4 · A4 · C5
Open (drop 2)	A3 · Bb3 · Db4 · F4 · C5
Shell	Bb3 · Db4 · A4
Rootless	Db3 · A3 · C4

Tap a key or a fret to hear it.

Anatomy

Bb Minor/major ninth (BbmMaj9) contains the notes Bb · Db · F · A · C, each with a role measured as an interval from the root.

Read on: how triads are built · seventh chords · extensions

Inversions

An inversion of Bb Minor/major ninth puts a chord tone other than Bb in the bass; the name after the slash is that bass note.

Where it lives

The keys and the scales Bb Minor/major ninth belongs to.

In which keys

Bb Minor/major ninth is diatonic to 1 key; the numeral is its degree and the label its harmonic function.

Bb minoriMaj9Tonic

Extensions beyond the seventh count when every note sits in the key.

Scales that contain it

Bb Minor/major ninth fits inside these scales, each built on Bb.

Bb Melodic MinorBb · C · Db · Eb · F · G · A
Bb Harmonic MinorBb · C · Db · Eb · F · Gb · A
Bb Minor HexatonicBb · C · Db · Eb · F · A
Bb Lydian DiminishedBb · C · Db · E · F · G · A
Bb Hungarian MinorBb · C · Db · E · F · Gb · A
Bb Minor BebopBb · C · Db · Eb · F · Gb · Ab · A
Bb Minor Six DiminishedBb · C · Db · Eb · F · Gb · G · A
Bb Messiaen's Mode #3Bb · C · Db · D · E · F · Gb · Ab · A

Related chords

Chords that share most of their notes with Bb Minor/major ninth: simpler and richer stacks of the same notes, and the substitutes a chart would accept.

Simpler

BbmMaj7Bb · Db · F · A
Bbmadd9Bb · Db · F · C
BbmBb · Db · F
Bbsus2Bb · C · F
Bb5Bb · F

Richer

BbmMaj9b6Bb · Db · F · Gb · A · C

Minor/major ninth on every root

CmMaj9 C#mMaj9 DbmMaj9 DmMaj9 EbmMaj9 EmMaj9 FmMaj9 F#mMaj9 GmMaj9 AbmMaj9 AmMaj9 BmMaj9

Open it in a tool

Understanding the Bb Minor/major ninth chord

Names and symbols

BbmMaj9 is the chord symbol for Bb Minor/major ninth; it is also written BbmM9, Bb-^9.

mMaj7, m/maj7, mΔ7, −Δ7 and mM7 all mean the minor-major seventh: a minor triad with a major seventh. Every spelling tries to say both qualities at once.

Common questions

What notes are in the Bb Minor/major ninth chord?: The Bb Minor/major ninth chord contains the notes Bb · Db · F · A · C: the root Bb with the intervals 1P, 3m, 5P, 7M, 9M stacked above it. Play them together for the chord or one after another for an arpeggio. The lowest note is normally Bb, but any chord tone can take the bass in an inversion.
What intervals make up the Bb Minor/major ninth chord?: Measured from Bb, the Bb Minor/major ninth chord stacks the intervals 1P, 3m, 5P, 7M, 9M. The quality of the third and of the seventh, if there is one, is what gives the chord its character; the rest of the notes colour it. Every interval in the formula links to its own page, with its sound.
How do I play the Bb Minor/major ninth chord?: On guitar the most common Bb Minor/major ninth shape is 687668, read from the lowest string to the highest; the instrument panel above shows several more with their fingerings. On piano play Bb3 · Db4 · F4 · A4 · C5 with the right hand, or move the root down into the left hand and keep the rest above it. Every shape on this page plays when you press it.