About Bbadd9 — drop 2 voicings
Bbadd9 is Bb, D, F and C — Bb with the ninth added, and no seventh.
It sounds bright and ringing. No seventh at all: that is what “add” means, and it is why this sounds open where a maj9 sounds lush.
Bbadd9 notes and formula
| Bb | D | F | C |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | 5 | 9 |
Tonic — a triad with one colour on it.
Also written Bb(add9), Bbadd2 or Bb add nine. The same chord either way; which spelling you meet depends on who wrote the chart.
How to play Bbadd9
Take the four notes stacked as close together as they go, then drop the second voice from the top an octave. The gap it opens is what makes the chord sound like a chord rather than a cluster.
It lands on four adjacent strings, which is why it is the workhorse voicing on guitar.
Bbadd9 has 15 of them, on the top four strings, the bottom four strings and the middle four strings, from open position up to the 15th — every inversion the chord has: Bb in the bass, D in the bass, F in the bass and C in the bass. The one to learn first is the D shape at the nut, which is the easiest grip here.
5 of them sit on the top four strings, so you can run the inversions up one set without changing strings — which is the whole reason to learn them as a family rather than as separate grips.
Start with xx87x8 — no barre and only 3 fretted notes. 1 of the 5 shapes here sits in open position. 3 of the 5 need a barre. Together they cover the neck from the 1st fret to the 13th.
| Frets | Where | Bass | Top | Hand |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| x10311 | open position | Bb, root position | F | barred |
| 65x566 | 5th fret | Bb, root position | Bb | barred |
| xx87x8 | 7th fret | Bb, root position | C | all fretted |
| x-13-12-10-13-10 | 10th fret | Bb, root position | D | all fretted |
| x-13-12-x-13-13 | 12th fret | Bb, root position | F | barred |
The same notes rebuilt from scratch give 10 drop 3 voicings, each on its own page.
How to use Bbadd9
How you get to it. The turn that lands on Bbadd9 is Cm7 to F7 — the ii and the V of Bb — and F7 shares its third and seventh with Cm7, so the hand barely moves between them.
In which keys. Every note of Bbadd9 belongs to C minor (the ♭VII), D minor (the ♭VI), Eb major (the V), F major (the IV), G minor (the ♭III) and Bb major (the I).
What to play over Bbadd9
Every note of Bbadd9 is in Bb major pentatonic, Bb major, Bb lydian, Bb mixolydian and Bb lydian dominant.
Chords near Bbadd9
Change one note of Bbadd9 and you have Bb (drop the ninth), Bbsus2 (drop the major third), Bbsus2sus4 (the major third becomes a fourth), Bbmaj7 (the ninth becomes a major seventh), Bbmaj9 (add the major seventh) or Bbmadd9 (the major third becomes a minor third).
Bbadd9 is a major chord — root, major third, fifth. Major chords on every root.
On Bbadd9’s sound and use this page follows Robert Rawlins & Nor Eddine Bahha, Jazzology (Hal Leonard, 2005). The shapes and the derived voicings come from different places, and both are explained in where the chords and the theory come from.