×BD#A#C#×
Fig. 1 · Bmaj9 · hard

guitar chord

Bmaj9

B1D♯3F♯5A♯7C♯9

A major seventh with a ninth on top.

on ukuleleon pianothe scale

Every fingering that fits a hand

Fig. 2

x2132x

hard · no 5

6
Fig. 3

7686xx

hard · no 5

8
Fig. 4

xx98b9

hard · no 5

What is true of it

Bmaj9 is B, D♯, F♯, A♯ and C♯ — 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9 counted from B.

On an instrument that cannot reach all 5, the 5 and 1 go first, in that order.

The easiest of the 3 fingerings below is x2132x: 4 fingers, held at the 1st fret.

None of them uses an open string, so this chord moves up the neck unchanged — the same shape 1 fret higher is the chord a semitone above.

It leaves out the 5. 6 strings cannot carry 5 notes, and the 5 is the one this chord can lose without changing what it is.

2 strings stay silent.

Where its notes are on the neck

EADGBE1234567891011125719371935357197193519357157193
Fig. 5 — first 12 frets

The brass dots are B, the root. Everything else is a chord tone with its degree printed in it.

With a different note underneath

first inversion

Bmaj9/D♯

x64606

second inversion

Bmaj9/F♯

24130x

third inversion

Bmaj9/A♯

66460x

An inversion is the same chord with a different note lowest. The name changes to a slash name because the bass is what a listener hears as the foundation.

B in other shapes

Badd9added ninthB9dominant ninthBm9minor ninthBmajorBmminorBdimdiminished

Cmaj9C♯maj9D♭maj9Dmaj9D♯maj9E♭maj9Emaj9Fmaj9all 374