Major Ninth Chords

Let’s look at how to play an A flat major 9 chord on the piano. We’ll also learn the pattern for building any other major 9 chord.

What Are Major Ninth Chords?

Major ninth chords are major chords with two added notes. The added notes are the seventh and ninth notes of the matching major scale.

So to build a major ninth chord, we’ll start by building a major chord. Major chords are built using the first, third and fifth notes of the matching major scale.

Next we’ll add the seventh note of the matching major scale to the chord.

Since scales only have eight notes, to find the ninth note, we can repeat the scale into the next octave. The ninth note is the same as the second note of the scale, but one octave up. Then we’ll add this note to the chord.

Chord Types Printable

Learn to play 17 types of piano chords using 12 different root notes with this 35-page PDF! Chords are sorted both by their root note and type.

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How to Play an A Flat Major 9 Chord

Now we can build an A flat major 9 chord. We’ll start by building an A flat major chord using the first, third and fifth notes of the A flat major scale: A♭ – C – E♭

Then we’ll add the seventh note of the scale to the chord: G

Then we’ll repeat the scale into the next octave to find the ninth note, and then add it to the chord: B♭

So to play an A flat major 9 chord, we’ll play:

A♭ – C – E♭ – G – B♭

We can use this pattern to build any other major 9 chord! First we’ll build a major chord using the first, third and fifth notes of the matching major scale. Then we’ll find the seventh note of the scale and add it to the chord. Then we’ll repeat the scale into the next octave to find the ninth note, and add it to the chord.

Fingering

You probably can’t reach all those notes in that order with your right hand only, so here are some options. You can play the A♭ with your left hand, and play the C – E♭ – G – B♭ with your right hand using fingers 1 – 2 – 3 – 5 (thumbs are 1’s).

Another option is to play the A♭ with your left hand as before, and then move the B♭ down to the position of a second and play the remaining notes in this order: B♭ – C – E♭ – G using fingers 1 – 2 – 3 – 5.

Other Chord Types

Some of the other chord types you can learn are:

Major
Minor
Augmented
Diminished
Second
Minor Second
Suspended
Fifth
Sixth
Minor Sixth
Seventh
Minor Seventh
Major Seventh
Ninth
Minor Ninth

Conclusion

Now you know how to play an A flat major 9 chord on the piano, and you can use this knowledge to play any other major 9 chord! These chords are really pretty, and give you more options when playing creatively at the piano!