How do I finger Bbmaj9 standard tuning

Hello,

I'm trying to play "Just the Way You Are" by Bruno Mars which is just three chords, F, Dm7, and Bbmaj9. I've searched all over but can't find a way to finger the Bbmaj9 in anyway my fingers can hold down the chord. Would someone post a picture of the finger position?

Here are three voicings:

http://ukulelechords.fm/chords/root/bflat/maj9/

I'm learning a song with Bb9 too. I agree: it's a really uncomfortable chord to play! I've taken a photo of my finger positions for you.

In case it isn't very clear...
G string: 3rd finger, 3rd fret
C string: 2nd finger, 2nd fret
E string: 1st finger, 1st fret
A string: 4th finger, 3rd fret

I need to bend my 1st and 2nd fingers sharply while leaving my 3rd and 4th quite flat, which is doable but a bit awkward. =/

I'm sure those more experienced would know easier ways, perhaps further up the neck.

There's a difference between the Bb9 and BbMaj9. The chord you are showing is a Bbadd9 (3213), since you have the root, third, fifth and ninth in this chord. The Maj9 needs the major seventh as well as the ninth, so it needs as A, which you have to get on the second string, fifth fret (3253). This chord makes the Bbadd9 look easy! FYI, the Bb9 would have an Ab in the chord, so it would be fingered as 3243, or as 7888 which is a much easier form to play but the voicing will be high.

For any chord voicing, you'll need the root and the third. The root gives you the key for the chord while the third tells you if it is a major or minor chord. As we only have four notes possible in the uke and a major ninth chord really needs five notes to fully define the chord (1,M3,5,M7,9), you drop out the fifth and add in the Maj7th and the thrid9th to form the chord.......if I remember my theory correctly! lol

Ah! Yes, you are right! Apologies, that was careless thinking on my part!

Though I will also lay some of the blame on the chord naming conventions. I much prefer a good figured bass. So much more detail.

I like the Bbadd9 sorta a carpenters chord....he he

www.ukulelehelper.com knows a total of 9 possible fingerings for Bbmaj9:
3253 (Bb D A C)
3055 (Bb C A D)
7060 (D C Bb A)
2263 (A D Bb C)
2065 (A C Bb D)
5270 (C D Bb A)
5251 (C D A Bb)
7 10 8 0 (D Bb C A)
5965 (C A Bb D)

If you have a bass player, or pianist, or guitarist playing the root (or even a singer singing), Bb, then you can play either Dm7 or F6.

Here's why this works (this is a bit of a review of some previous comments). Bbmaj9 is spelled Bb, D, F, A C. Without the Bb, you have D F A C, which is Dm7. Rearrange the letters of Dm7 and you get F A C D, which is F6. If you play either Dm7 or F6 and a bass player hits Bb, you'll both sound the chord Bbmaj9.

You may already know a bit about this and not know that you know it. When you play the open strings of the uke, you are playing C6 (C E G A) or Am7 (A C E G), depending on the context. If a bass player hits an F, then you both sound like Fmaj9.

Since the 6 chord is one of the easiest chords on the uke (the other being the m7), you can use it as a sub for any maj9. Whenever you see a maj9, play a 6 chord a fifth up from the root of the maj9 -- in other words, do this ....

When you see Fmaj9, play C6 (0000) and have the bassist hit an F.
When you see Gmaj9, play D6 (2222) and have the bassist hit a G.
When you see Amaj9, play E6 (4444) and have the bassist hit an A.
When you see Bbmaj9, play F6 (5555) and have the bassist hit a Bb.
And so on!

tl;dr If another instrument (bass, piano, guitar, voice) is hitting the Bb, you can play F6 (2213 or 5555) and it will sound like Bbmaj9.

Thanks

Thank you everyone. Uke helper is a great resource.
http://www.ukulelehelper.com/

Louis0815 said:

www.ukulelehelper.com knows a total of 9 possible fingerings for Bbmaj9:
3253 (Bb D A C)
3055 (Bb C A D)
7060 (D C Bb A)
2263 (A D Bb C)
2065 (A C Bb D)
5270 (C D Bb A)
5251 (C D A Bb)
7 10 8 0 (D Bb C A)
5965 (C A Bb D)

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