Add9 chord

An add9 chord keeps all three notes of an ordinary triad and adds the ninth, the note a whole step above the root, usually placed an octave up. The third stays, so the chord is still major or minor. The extra note gives it a brighter, more open ring than the plain triad.

Building Cadd9 and Am(add9)

1. Start with the C major triad: C E G.
2. Count up the C major scale from C. C is 1, D is 2, and so on up to B at 7 and C at 8. Keep going and D comes round again as 9.
3. Put that D on top: C E G D. That is Cadd9.

Minor chords work the same way. Am is A C E, the note a whole step above A is B, and Am(add9) is A C E B. The added B gives the minor chord a soft, bittersweet sound.

Add9, add2, sus2 and 9

These four names get mixed up often. Here they are in C:

• Cadd9 (C E G D): the third stays, and the D goes up high.
• Cadd2 (C D E G): the same notes with the D squeezed in next to the root. Many players treat it as another voicing of add9.
• Csus2 (C D G): the third is gone, so the chord is neither major nor minor. See suspended chord.
• C9 (C E G Bb D): a full ninth chord also carries the 7th, Bb, which gives it a bluesy pull. Add9 leaves the 7th out.

Guitarists meet Cadd9 early. Its common shape, x32033, keeps the ring finger and pinky on the 3rd fret of the top two strings, exactly where they sit in the G shape 320033, so going from G to Cadd9 moves only two fingers, each over by one string. On piano, play C in your left hand and E G D in your right.

For the full comparison with sus chords, read Sus2 vs Sus4 Chords (and Add9). To hear add9 in a progression, try the add9 pop loop in 8 Dreamy Chord Progressions.