Gmadd9 guitar chord
The standard grips this chord is usually shown with.
- Tap a note to hear it
- Arrows change position
- Fingers, notes or intervals
- Play the chord
About Gmadd9 — 1st inversion
Gmadd9 is G, Bb, D and A — Gm 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.
Gmadd9 notes and formula
| G | Bb | D | A |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ♭3 | 5 | 9 |
Minor tonic — a triad with one colour on it.
Also written Gm(add9), Gmin(add9) or G-add9. The same chord either way; which spelling you meet depends on who wrote the chart.
How to play Gmadd9
Gmadd9 in 1st inversion puts Bb in the bass instead of G, the 3rd of the chord. The notes are the same; what changes is what the bass line does, which is most of why you would reach for it — it lets the lowest voice move by step where the root would have jumped.
2 of Gmadd9’s 9 common shapes do this: xx8785, x-13-12-12-10-x.
Start with xx7086 — no barre and 1 open string. 1 of the 9 shapes here sits in open position. 3 of the 9 need a barre. Together they cover the neck from the 1st fret to the 15th.
| Frets | Where | Bass | Top | Hand |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 310233 | open position | G, root position | G | barred |
| 355335 | 3rd fret | G, root position | A | barred |
| xx5335 | 3rd fret | G, root position | A | all fretted |
| xx7086 | 6th fret | A, 9th in the bass | Bb | 1 open string |
| xx8785 | 5th fret | Bb, 1st inversion | A | all fretted |
| x-10-8-7-10-x | 7th fret | G, root position | A | all fretted |
| x-10-8-x-10-10 | 8th fret | G, root position | D | barred |
| x-13-12-12-10-x | 10th fret | Bb, 1st inversion | A | all fretted |
| 15-13-x-14-15-x | 13th fret | G, root position | D | all fretted |
The same notes rebuilt from scratch give 13 drop 2, 9 drop 3 and 2 open string voicings, each on its own page.
How to use Gmadd9
How you get to it. The turn that lands on Gmadd9 is Am7♭5 to D7♭9: the ii and the V of G minor, which is where a minor tonic is usually arrived at rather than simply begun on.
In which keys. Every note of Gmadd9 belongs to D minor (the iv, the subdominant), F major (the ii, the supertonic), G minor (the i, the tonic) and Bb major (the vi, the submediant).
What to play over Gmadd9
Every note of Gmadd9 is in G dorian, G natural minor, G harmonic minor and G melodic minor.
Chords near Gmadd9
Change one note of Gmadd9 and you have Gm (drop the ninth), Gsus2 (drop the minor third), Gsus2sus4 (the minor third becomes a fourth), Gm6 (the ninth becomes a sixth), Gm69 (add the sixth) or Gm7 (the ninth becomes a flat seventh).
Gmadd9 is a minor chord — root, minor third, fifth. Minor chords on every root.
On Gmadd9’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.