Chord Shapes

Major Added Ninth

Intervals: 1-3-5-9. A major triad with an added 9th but no 7th. Compared with maj7 or maj9 it sounds very pure and open, strongly associated with acoustic guitar voicings and pop ballads. Because there is no 7th, the chord has little inherent functional tension and can act as tonic, subdominant or even mediant in modal writing. On I or IV it gives a “fresh air” quality – bright but not jazzy in the same way as maj7 – and it dovetails well with pentatonic and major-scale melodies that linger on the 9th.