About C#madd9 — drop 2 voicings
C#madd9 is C#, E, G# and D# — C#m 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.
C#madd9 notes and formula
| C# | E | G# | D# |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ♭3 | 5 | 9 |
Minor tonic — a triad with one colour on it.
Also written C#m(add9), C#min(add9) or C#-add9. The same chord either way; which spelling you meet depends on who wrote the chart.
How to play C#madd9
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.
C#madd9 has 13 of them, on the top four strings, the middle four strings and the bottom four strings, from open position up to the 12th — every inversion the chord has: C# in the bass, E in the bass, G# in the bass and D# 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 x4214x — no barre and down at the nut. 1 of the 8 shapes here sits in open position. 2 of the 8 need a barre. Together they cover the neck from the 1st fret to the 14th.
| Frets | Where | Bass | Top | Hand |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| x4214x | 1st fret | C#, root position | D# | all fretted |
| x42x44 | 2nd fret | C#, root position | G# | barred |
| x46640 | open position | C#, root position | E | 1 open string |
| x7664x | 4th fret | E, 1st inversion | D# | all fretted |
| 97x890 | 7th fret | C#, root position | G# | 1 open string |
| 9-11-11-9-9-11 | 9th fret | C#, root position | D# | barred |
| x-x-11-9-9-11 | 9th fret | C#, root position | D# | all fretted |
| x-x-14-13-14-11 | 11th fret | E, 1st inversion | D# | all fretted |
The same notes rebuilt from scratch give 9 drop 3 voicings, each on its own page.
How to use C#madd9
How you get to it. The turn that lands on C#madd9 is D#m7♭5 to G#7♭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 C#madd9 belongs to C# minor (the i, the tonic), E major (the vi, the submediant), Ab minor (the iv, the subdominant) and B major (the ii, the supertonic).
What to play over C#madd9
Every note of C#madd9 is in C# dorian, C# natural minor, C# harmonic minor and C# melodic minor.
Chords near C#madd9
Change one note of C#madd9 and you have C#m (drop the ninth), C#sus2 (drop the minor third), C#sus2sus4 (the minor third becomes a fourth), C#m6 (the ninth becomes a sixth), C#m69 (add the sixth) or C#m7 (the ninth becomes a flat seventh).
C#madd9 is a minor chord — root, minor third, fifth. Minor chords on every root.
On C#madd9’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.