About Fmadd9 — drop 3 voicings
Fmadd9 is F, Ab, C and G — Fm 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.
Minor tonic — a triad with one colour on it.
Fmadd9 notes and formula
| F | Ab | C | G |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ♭3 | 5 | 9 |
Also written Fm(add9), Fmin(add9) or F-add9. The same chord either way; which spelling you meet depends on who wrote the chart.
How to play Fmadd9
The same operation one voice further down: the third voice from the top falls an octave and becomes the bass.
That leaves a bigger hole under the top three notes, so a string gets skipped: the muted string in the middle is the shape, not a mistake.
Fmadd9 has 9 of them, on strings 6-4-3-2 and strings 5-3-2-1, from open position up to the 13th — every inversion the chord has: F in the bass, Ab in the bass, C in the bass and G in the bass. The one to learn first is the G shape at the nut.
5 of them sit on strings 6-4-3-2, 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.
All 11 common shapes as fret numbers, lowest string first. Hover or tap one to see it drawn.
- 133113, 1st fret, F, root position, top note G, barred
- xx3113, 1st fret, F, root position, top note G, all fretted
- xx6563, 3rd fret, Ab, 1st inversion, top note G, all fretted
- x86068, 6th fret, F, root position, top note C, 1 open string
- x8658x, 5th fret, F, root position, top note G, all fretted
- x86x88, 6th fret, F, root position, top note C, barred
- x-8-10-0-9-8, 8th fret, F, root position, top note C, 1 open string
- x-11-10-10-8-x, 8th fret, Ab, 1st inversion, top note G, all fretted
- 13-11-x-12-13-x, 11th fret, F, root position, top note C, all fretted
- 13-15-15-13-13-15, 13th fret, F, root position, top note G, barred
- x-x-15-13-13-15, 13th fret, F, root position, top note G, all fretted
How to use Fmadd9
How you get to it. The turn that lands on Fmadd9 is Gm7♭5 to C7♭9: the ii and the V of F minor, which is where a minor tonic is usually arrived at rather than simply begun on.
In which keys. Every note of Fmadd9 belongs to C minor (the iv, the subdominant), Eb major (the ii, the supertonic), F minor (the i, the tonic) and Ab major (the vi, the submediant).
What to play over Fmadd9
Every note of Fmadd9 is in F dorian, F natural minor, F harmonic minor and F melodic minor.
Chords near Fmadd9
Change one note of Fmadd9 and you have Fm (drop the ninth), Fsus2 (drop the minor third), Fsus2sus4 (the minor third becomes the fourth), Fm6 (the ninth becomes the sixth), Fm69 (add the sixth) or Fm7 (the ninth becomes the flat seventh).
Fmadd9 is a minor chord — root, minor third, fifth. Minor chords on every root.
The common shapes and the derived voicings come from different places, and both are explained in how this site is built.