C69 is C, E, G, A and D. Start with a major chord and add the and .
If you play , you already have the 9th. Adding the 6th gives you C69, with a fuller, more open sound.
For a tonic chord that feels like home, C69 is often used instead of .
Unlike , C69 leaves out the major 7th, . That can help when the melody lands on , a half step above, and you want to avoid the rub.
To hear what the adds to a home chord, start with .
One repeated root rises two frets to the 9th. The other notes stay put.
In the Getz/Gilberto recording of “The Girl from Ipanema”, the guitar uses D♭6/9 to establish home at the start of the song.
Listen for how the 6th and 9th fill out the chord while it still feels settled.
Also written C6/9, C6add9 or C six nine.
Where a tune’s home chord is written as a major seventh or sixth, C69 is often played instead. It is C major’s sixth chord with one note raised a whole step, root to ninth.
Listen for: The ii’s root holds through the V as its fifth and stays on as the ninth of the I. On the sixth chord it falls a whole step to the root.
In which keys. Every note of C69 belongs to C major, D minor, E minor, F major, G major and A minor.
Exact match — C69 and this scale share these 5 notes.
Contains C69 and adds fourth and major seventh.
Contains C69 and adds sharp eleventh and major seventh.
Adds fourth and flat seventh. The flat seventh pushes the sound toward a dominant chord.
Adds sharp eleventh and flat seventh, for a dominant sharp-eleventh color.
The common shapes and the derived voicings come from different places, and both are explained in how this site is built.
Shows each chord the way this style would voice it, and marks which of its alternatives belong to the idiom.