Ninth Chords
So far we have dealt with major, minor and dominant 7th chords. Another popular sound in Blues is the Dominant 9th chord (commonly called a 9th chord). A 9th chord is obtained by adding a major 3rd interval on top of a 7th chord. The chord will then contain the 1st, 3rd, 5th, b7th and 9th degrees of a major scale. Here is the most common voicing of the 9th chord. The third finger should clearly sound the 1st, 2nd and 3rd strings. The root note here is on the 5th string, under the second finger.
Once you have the shape memorized, try this new 12 Bar Blues which moves the 9th chord around the fretboard. In this exercise the shape is often moved briefly up or down one fret from chord I, IV or V. Listen to the effect it creates.
Here is another common 9th chord shape. This one can sometimes be difficult to locate correctly, since it doesn’t contain the root note. The root can be found on the 6th string at the same fret as the third finger.
Once you are comfortable with each of the 9th chord shapes, try playing a 12 Bar Blues alternating between the two as shown here. This off-beat rhythm is also effective with 7th chords. Experiment with combining 7th and 9th chords in the one progression.
9th chords also work particularly well at the end of a turnaround as shown here.
