C#madd9 guitar chord
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About C#madd9 — root position
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
C#madd9 in root position puts C# in the bass, which is the chord as it is spelled: the note it is named after underneath everything else.
6 of C#madd9’s 8 common shapes do this: x4214x, x42x44, x46640, 97x890, 9-11-11-9-9-11, x-x-11-9-9-11.
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 13 drop 2 and 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.