About Ebadd9 — drop 2 voicings
Ebadd9 is Eb, G, Bb and F — Eb 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.
Ebadd9 notes and formula
| Eb | G | Bb | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | 5 | 9 |
Tonic — a triad with one colour on it.
Also written Eb(add9), Ebadd2 or Eb add nine. The same chord either way; which spelling you meet depends on who wrote the chart.
How to play Ebadd9
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.
Ebadd9 has 13 of them, on the bottom four strings, the top four strings and the middle four strings, from open position up to the 12th — every inversion the chord has: Eb in the bass, G in the bass, Bb in the bass and F in the bass. The one to learn first is the F shape at the nut, which is the easiest grip here.
5 of them sit on the bottom 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 x-x-13-12-x-13 — no barre and only 3 fretted notes. None of the shapes for Ebadd9 uses an open string, so every one of them is movable; the lowest sits at the 3rd fret. 2 of the 4 need a barre. Together they cover the neck from the 3rd fret to the 13th.
| Frets | Where | Bass | Top | Hand |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| x65363 | 3rd fret | Eb, root position | G | all fretted |
| x65066 | 5th fret | Eb, root position | Bb | barred |
| 11-10-x-10-11-11 | 10th fret | Eb, root position | Eb | barred |
| x-x-13-12-x-13 | 12th fret | Eb, root position | F | all fretted |
The same notes rebuilt from scratch give 8 drop 3 voicings, each on its own page.
How to use Ebadd9
How you get to it. The turn that lands on Ebadd9 is Fm7 to Bb7 — the ii and the V of Eb — and Bb7 shares its third and seventh with Fm7, so the hand barely moves between them.
In which keys. Every note of Ebadd9 belongs to C minor (the ♭III), Eb major (the I), F minor (the ♭VII), G minor (the ♭VI), Ab major (the V) and Bb major (the IV).
What to play over Ebadd9
Every note of Ebadd9 is in Eb major pentatonic, Eb major, Eb lydian, Eb mixolydian and Eb lydian dominant.
Chords near Ebadd9
Change one note of Ebadd9 and you have Eb (drop the ninth), Ebsus2 (drop the major third), Ebsus2sus4 (the major third becomes a fourth), Ebmaj7 (the ninth becomes a major seventh), Ebmaj9 (add the major seventh) or Ebmadd9 (the major third becomes a minor third).
Ebadd9 is a major chord — root, major third, fifth. Major chords on every root.
On Ebadd9’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.