Fadd9 guitar chord
An open string left ringing against a fretted grip. Because it costs no finger, it sounds a note the closed shape has none left for -- a tension on top, or a pedal root underneath. Either a familiar grip with open strings added, or a shape so sparse the open strings carry the chord. These belong to their key rather than to a shape, so D, A, G and E have many and Eb a handful.
- Tap a note to hear it
- Arrows change position
- Fingers, notes or intervals
- Play the chord
About Fadd9 — open string voicings
Fadd9 is F, A, C and G — F 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.
Fadd9 notes and formula
| F | A | C | G |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | 5 | 9 |
Tonic — a triad with one colour on it.
Also written F(add9), Fadd2 or F add nine. The same chord either way; which spelling you meet depends on who wrote the chart.
How to play Fadd9
An open string left ringing against a fretted grip. It costs no finger, so it can sound a note the closed shape has none left for: a tension on top, or a pedal root underneath.
These belong to their key rather than to a shape: they cannot be moved up the neck. D, A, G and E have many; E♭ has a handful.
Fadd9 has 1 of them, only on the middle four strings, all of them at the 5th fret — all in one inversion, so the bass note never moves. The one to learn first is the A shape at the 5th fret, which is the easiest grip here.
Start with xx32x3 — no barre and only 3 fretted notes. 1 of the 6 shapes here sits in open position. 2 of the 6 need a barre. Together they cover the neck from the 2nd fret to the 15th.
| Frets | Where | Bass | Top | Hand |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| xx32x3 | 2nd fret | F, root position | G | all fretted |
| xx3065 | open position | F, root position | A | 1 open string |
| x87585 | 5th fret | F, root position | A | all fretted |
| x87088 | 7th fret | F, root position | C | barred |
| 13-12-x-12-13-13 | 12th fret | F, root position | F | barred |
| x-x-15-14-13-15 | 13th fret | F, root position | G | all fretted |
The same notes rebuilt from scratch give 15 drop 2 and 10 drop 3 voicings, each on its own page.
How to use Fadd9
How you get to it. The turn that lands on Fadd9 is Gm7 to C7 — the ii and the V of F — and C7 shares its third and seventh with Gm7, so the hand barely moves between them.
In which keys. Every note of Fadd9 belongs to C major (the IV), D minor (the ♭III), F major (the I), G minor (the ♭VII), A minor (the ♭VI) and Bb major (the V).
What to play over Fadd9
Every note of Fadd9 is in F major pentatonic, F major, F lydian, F mixolydian and F lydian dominant.
Chords near Fadd9
Change one note of Fadd9 and you have F (drop the ninth), Fsus2 (drop the major third), Fsus2sus4 (the major third becomes a fourth), Fmaj7 (the ninth becomes a major seventh), Fmaj9 (add the major seventh) or Fmadd9 (the major third becomes a minor third).
Fadd9 is a major chord — root, major third, fifth. Major chords on every root.
On Fadd9’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.