How in the world do you play a BbMaj9??

[bagginz]

I see it as two major chords on top of each other, built on the fifth of the first chord. How you choose to play it depends on the song and what the other instruments play. If it sounds good... (aaah...)

Yeah, that would work.

Yet another way to view BbMaj9 is as 4 successive diatonic thirds stacked on top of one another, starting from the Bb root.

Cheers,
Bagginz

- Extreme pedantry in musical nomenclature since 1985 -

[codevyper]

Of course you can cluster the hell out of it and play A, Bb, C, D and F all tightly packed together.

[dhalfen]

Of course you can cluster the hell out of it and play A, Bb, C, D and F all tightly packed together.

Oh, keep your "tone clusters" out of this, Mr. Cowell!!!

(Henry, that is, not Simon...)

[Ogg Vorbis]

It's possible to play all the notes of the Bb major scale and omit the 4th degree and it will be a BbMaj9.

You could also play an Esus4(+5), omit the root, add a regular dominant 7th, a +11 and a -9 and get the same result.

If time is no option, try spanking a pregnant walrus with a cut throat trout, record the results, use a Ohm Law filter and a ring modulator, run the output through an 1961 Epiphone bass amp and sort out the frequencies...it will give you...a BbMaj9 chord...I'm positive...

[jcrisman]

How in the world do you play a BbMaj9??

More or less like an A#Maj9, but in an ill-tempered manner.

http://www.8notes.com/guitar_chord_chart/Bbmaj9.asp

[codevyper]

It's possible to play all the notes of the Bb major scale and omit the 4th degree and it will be a BbMaj9.

Not true. You'd have a Bbmaj9 add 13

You could also play an Esus4(+5), omit the root, add a regular dominant 7th, a +11 and a -9 and get the same result.

If time is no option, try spanking a pregnant walrus with a cut throat trout, record the results, use a Ohm Law filter and a ring modulator, run the output through an 1961 Epiphone bass amp and sort out the frequencies...it will give you...a BbMaj9 chord...I'm positive...

If you do the same thing on the 15th of October during a leap year however, it give you an Egads major minor dim7 chord. Don't ask me how I know.

[Ogg Vorbis]

It's possible to play all the notes of the Bb major scale and omit the 4th degree and it will be a BbMaj9.

Not true. You'd have a Bbmaj9 add 13

Ah! Correct. That pesky G...

[Gregjazz]

And no, jazz players do not assume random dominant 7ths in chords. That's just not the way it works.

who implied otherwise?

Sorry, it was an ambiguous reference to this post...

Or without the A

Wouldn't that be the "plain" Bb9 chord? Where's the Maj then? Often in these jazzy-type chords, the 7 is implied, even when omitted in the name.

[Download SOphist]

ok, just curious. apologies for harshness.

[wrench45us]

seemed a simple enough question at first didn't it?

there are benefits to seeing it as well as most other 'extended' chords as two chords -- if nothing else it helps to train the muscle memory to certian chord shapes and there's a whole branch of thinking about extended chords as slash chords

a lot of books I have voice these larger chords with the root and fifth or root and 7th in the left hand, but with 9th chords it's usually root and fifth in the left hand and 3, 7, 9 in the right hand or root and 3rd in the left hand and 5,7, 9 in the right hand (which makes it easy to thionk of it as a chord) - otherwise the 3 and 9 get awfully close, unless that's what you want
generally it seems people want that 9th ringing out on the top of the chord

I tend not to be all that good with the left hand. I just play roots so I'd probably play 1 in the left and 7,9,3 in the right -- at least to hear how it sounds

[DocAtlas]

Or without the A

Wouldn't that be the "plain" Bb9 chord? Where's the Maj then? Often in these jazzy-type chords, the 7 is implied, even when omitted in the name.

the major chord is the Bb-D-F. adding an A makes it a 7th, not a major.

Not quite. Adding Ab would make it a 7th, A natural makes it a major 7th. The term Major in the chord name is referring to the 7th of the chord, not the base triad it's built upon.

[mr]

I just decided to quit studing musical theory. I have only 30 years left in my life.. (+/-)

[wrench45us]

it's really not that bad

now if it were a 7th with the Ab all kinds of upper notes are granted entry
seems what rules there are allow throwing in all sorts of notes with dominant 7ths -- there's nothing quite like a #9 to really push the whole 'resolution coming' idea

[DocAtlas]

it's really not that bad

now if it were a 7th with the Ab all kinds of upper notes are granted entry
seems what rules there are allow throwing in all sorts of notes with dominant 7ths -- there's nothing quite like a #9 to really push the whole 'resolution coming' idea

Mmmmm...#9! One of my favorite chords.