9th Chords Theory
Ninth chords (especially "add9's") are great for creating a subtle and mellow feel to a standard major or minor chord.
The Sound of a 9th chord
If a ninth is found in the middle of a chord, it will create a subtle warmth to the sound. if played at the top of the chord, it creates a slight feeling of suspension, but not as tense as a sus4 or dominant 7th chord.
The 9th Chord Notated
There are a number of varients to this chord, and each one has it's own written shorthand. "C9" means a major chord with a 7th and 9th. "Cm9" means play a minor chord with a 7th and 9th. "Cadd9" is a C major chord with a 9th (no 7th). Other varients are the flattened 9th. For example, Cmb9. Here you would play a C minor chord, with a 7th and flattened 9th (the 9th note here would be a Db).
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C9 notated
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Theory - how to work out any ninth chord.
A ninth chord is formed from any major or minor chord by adding the second degree of the scale to the chord. The seventh degree is usually included as well. If you're not confident with scales, here's another way of working them out:-
D9 chord
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Here we're going to look at D9. Begin by working out the major chord, which is in this case is D - F# - A. Next you'll need to add a minor seventh to the chord (this will be a C, two down from the root note). Finally, the ninth. For this, find the root note of the chord (D) and add two semitones to it. (Remember that a semitone is the smallest step you can go in music). This gets you to E. So D9 would be played D - F# - A - C - E.
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So far we looked at the standard ninth chord (also known as the dominant ninth). There's lots of cool varients to this chord. Here's some of the possibilities:-
Dmaj9
For this, work out the major chord, and the ninth as before. The only difference is the seventh note, which in this case is C#. This is because the "maj" part of the symbol refers to the seventh note, which should be played as a major seventh. A very sweet sounding chord.
Dm9
This is essentially a minor chord, with a minor seventh and a ninth. So the notes here would be D - F - A - C - E.
Another great chord.
Dadd9
This is the same as D9, but without the minor seventh. So Dadd9 is D - F# - A - E.
The "add9" chords are one of my favourite types of chord. I often play them with this type of voicing ("voicing" is the order in which we play the notes) - D (in the left hand) and E - F# - A (in the right hand). I often replace a straight chord (such as "C" or "E" etc) with Cadd9 or Eadd9, to create a little more warmth in the sound.
D(b9)
Yet another type of ninth! This time the ninth is "flattened" so that it is one semitone down from where it originally was. Another way of looking at this is to count just one semitone up from the root note, and then put this note up one octave. Remember to add the minor seventh. So D(b9) would be D - F# - A - C - Eb
Other varients of the ninth chord can be created by using the flattened ninth with minor chords, or as an "addb9".
TOP TIP:
Here's a cool little chord sequence to experiment with:-
Play two Cadd9's, playing them so that you play C in the left hand, and D - E - G in the right hand. Follow this with two ordinary C chords (C in the left hand and C - E - G in the right). Repeat this, so that the whole sequence is Cadd9, Cadd9, C, C, Cadd9, Cadd9, C, C. Then move to Am, F, and G, doing a similar thing with each chord.
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