Cmadd9 guitar chord
The standard grips this chord is usually shown with.
- Tap a note to hear it
- Arrows change position
- Fingers, notes or intervals
- Play the chord
About Cmadd9 — 1st inversion
Cmadd9 is C, Eb, G and D — Cm with the ninth added, and no seventh.
It sounds sharp-edged. The ninth grinding a whole step under the minor third is the edge an m9 softens.
Cmadd9 notes and formula
| C | Eb | G | D |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ♭3 | 5 | 9 |
Minor tonic — a triad with one colour on it.
Also written Cm(add9), Cmin(add9) or C-add9. The same chord either way; which spelling you meet depends on who wrote the chart.
How to play Cmadd9
Cmadd9 in 1st inversion puts Eb in the bass instead of C, the 3rd of the chord. The notes are the same; what changes is what the bass line does, which is most of why you would reach for it — it lets the lowest voice move by step where the root would have jumped.
2 of Cmadd9’s 8 common shapes do this: x6553x, x-x-13-12-13-10.
Start with x30543 — no barre and 1 open string. 2 of the 8 shapes here sit in open position. 3 of the 8 need a barre. Together they cover the neck from the 1st fret to the 15th.
| Frets | Where | Bass | Top | Hand |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| x31033 | open position | C, root position | G | barred |
| x30543 | open position | C, root position | G | 1 open string |
| x6553x | 3rd fret | Eb, 1st inversion | D | all fretted |
| 860788 | 6th fret | C, root position | C | barred |
| 8-10-10-8-8-10 | 8th fret | C, root position | D | barred |
| x-x-10-8-8-10 | 8th fret | C, root position | D | all fretted |
| x-x-13-12-13-10 | 10th fret | Eb, 1st inversion | D | all fretted |
| x-15-13-12-15-x | 12th fret | C, root position | D | all fretted |
The same notes rebuilt from scratch give 13 drop 2, 8 drop 3 and 3 open string voicings, each on its own page.
How to use Cmadd9
How you get to it. The turn that lands on Cmadd9 is Dm7♭5 to G7♭9: the ii and the V of C minor, which is where a minor tonic is usually arrived at rather than simply begun on.
In which keys. Every note of Cmadd9 belongs to C minor (the i, the tonic), Eb major (the vi, the submediant), G minor (the iv, the subdominant) and Bb major (the ii, the supertonic).
What to play over Cmadd9
Every note of Cmadd9 is in C dorian, C natural minor, C harmonic minor and C melodic minor.
Chords near Cmadd9
Change one note of Cmadd9 and you have Cm (drop the ninth), Csus2 (drop the minor third), Csus2sus4 (the minor third becomes a fourth), Cm6 (the ninth becomes a sixth), Cm69 (add the sixth) or Cm7 (the ninth becomes a flat seventh).
Cmadd9 is a minor chord — root, minor third, fifth. Minor chords on every root.
On Cmadd9’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.