Farben chord (Am(maj9)/C): how to play it on guitar

Farben chord (Am(maj9)/C): guitar chord

Play it on

Search the library

Famous chords1

Famous

Standard

Am(maj9)/C · Schoenberg

Famous

Am(maj9)

Farben chord Standard

3rd in bass · 5 strings

FamousFarben chordFive Orchestral Pieces, Op. 16, no. 3, 'Farben', 1912 · Arnold Schoenberg

The opening (bar 1 on): the chord pulses in two alternating wind groups, Flutes I–II, Clarinet II and Bassoon II on the downbeats and English horn, Bassoon I, Horn II and Trumpet II on the third beats, with solo viola and solo double bass on the low C. The voices then move by half steps in a slow canon, so the whole chord gradually shifts to new pitches.

Five notes, C, G♯, B, E and A from the bottom up, held at the start of 'Farben' ('Colours'), the third of Schoenberg's Five Orchestral Pieces. The chord barely changes, but the instruments playing it keep trading off, so what moves is the tone colour, not the harmony. Read as one chord it is an A minor chord with a major seventh and ninth, over C.

Also called Farben

Sources: Matthew Zeller, 'Klangfarbenmelodie, Chromophony, and Timbral Function in Arnold Schoenberg's "Farben"', Music Theory Online 29.3 (2023) · Farben chord (Wikipedia) · 'Schoenberg: Five Pieces for Orchestra, op. 16' (Fugue for Thought)

Chord clock

What’s in it

R A♭3 C5 E7 G♯9 B

About this shape

Lowest note: C3, the ♭3rd
Highest note: A4, the root
Stretch: 4 frets
Fingers: 4 fingers, ring finger barre

Where it sits on the neck

Fingering not checked by a guitarist yet.

Farben chord (Am(maj9)/C): guitar chord

Famous chords1

More A chords on guitar

Minor major ninth chords in every key

Am(maj9) on other instruments

Also for guitar

Farben chord (Am(maj9)/C): guitar chord

Famous chords1←→ along the neck · ↑↓ previous or next result

More A chords on guitar

Minor major ninth chords in every key

Am(maj9) on other instruments

Also for guitar

Famous chords1