GbBbFAb××
Fig. 1 · Gbmaj9 · hard

guitar chord

G♭maj9

G♭1B♭3D♭5F7A♭9

A major seventh with a ninth on top.

Written the other way round it is F♯maj9 — the same twelve keys on a piano, a different piece of notation.

on ukuleleon pianothe scale

Every fingering that fits a hand

Fig. 2

2131xx

hard · no 5

3
Fig. 3

xx4364

hard · no 5

8
Fig. 4

x98a9x

hard · no 5

What is true of it

G♭maj9 is G♭, B♭, D♭, F and A♭ — 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9 counted from G♭.

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 2131xx: 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

EADGBE123456789101112719353571971935935715719371935
Fig. 5 — first 12 frets

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

With a different note underneath

6
first inversion

G♭maj9/B♭

696666

3
second inversion

G♭maj9/D♭

x4636x

third inversion

G♭maj9/F

114121

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.

G♭ in other shapes

G♭add9added ninthG♭9dominant ninthG♭m9minor ninthG♭majorG♭mminorG♭dimdiminished

Cmaj9C♯maj9D♭maj9Dmaj9D♯maj9E♭maj9Emaj9Fmaj9all 374