The Minor Six/Nine Chord
Lesson time: (2min 6sec)
Tim Richards shows how to build and voice the minor 6/9 chord, and when its darker, more contemporary colour works in a tune.
Course preview
This lesson is part of the course Exploring Jazz Piano: Ninth Chords
Watch a preview of the full course below.
Lesson transcript:
Lesson on the Minor 69 Chord
This lesson is all about the minor 69 chord.
Introduction to Minor 69
You remember we saw earlier how you can play a major chord as a 69 instead of a major 9th.
- G major 9: If you move the 7th to the 6th, you get a different sound, a more contemporary way of playing a major chord.
You can do exactly the same thing with a minor chord.
G Minor 69
Here's G minor 9:
- Let's move the F down to an E.
- This creates a much darker minor chord: G minor 6 9.
I've used this sound in the next tune, Orinoco. I've also used this fragment, which we saw earlier in Cloud Nine.
- By moving the D up to an E, I've created that minor six sound.
Dorian Scale Awareness
Just be aware that both of these chords, if we did it in D, could have a Dorian scale. So I'm creating a bit of variety there just by moving the seventh to the sixth.
I could also do that in this position. You can use that kind of accompaniment to your scale patterns if you like.
Analysis of Orinoco
Now we'll have a look at Orinoco.
- The left hand starts by playing this pattern; actually, it's in the right hand with the bass line.
- Then it goes to B flat minor like this.
This really taps into these dark sounds.
Phrygian Mode
Later on in the tune, we'll be using the Phrygian mode. More about that later.
About the instructor
Critically acclaimed jazz pianist and composer Tim Richards is one of Britain’s most experienced jazz educators, teaching piano privately for over 30 years, as well as at Morley College, Goldsmiths College, the University of Surrey, Premises Studios and other venues in the UK and abroad. He has produced numerous titles for Schott Music, including the best-selling two-volume Exploring Jazz Piano, Blues, Boogie & Gospel Collection and the acclaimed Improvising Blues Piano. He is also co-author, with John Crawford, of Exploring Latin Piano and Brazilian Piano Collection.More recently Schott have published Jazz, Latin & Modern Collection (15 pieces for solo piano), comprising Tim Richards originals alongside pieces by Duke Ellington and Thelonious Monk, and the two volume set Beginning Jazz Piano (now a two-part MusicGurus course).“The real joy of Tim’s music… is that it is both hugely educational but also such great fun to play. Anyone with the slightest interest in learning to play or teach jazz piano should really acquire a set of Tim’s books.” PianoDaoAs a performer Tim has been a presence on the UK jazz scene since the 1980s, also playing the blues with UK and US legends such as Otis Grand, Earl Green, Dana Gillespie, Larry Garner, Joe Louis Walker and Mojo Buford. He has released over a dozen albums as a leader (featuring many of London’s best jazz musicians including Pete King, Gilad Atzmon, Tony Kofi, Jason Yarde, Seb Rochford, Ed Jones, Dick Pearce and many others), and toured all over Europe with line-ups ranging from duo to nine-piece. His latest recording, the album ‘Telegraph Hill’ by the six-piece Hextet, was described in The Observer as "A true joy from beginning to end". More info can be found on his website www.timrichards.ndo.co.uk read more