Chordal Harmony and Ninth Chords

Well, hello there!

Hopefully, you enjoyed that last lesson on chordal harmony and moving around a blues scale. If you did enjoy the lesson, this one hopefully will make you smile as well.

Introducing Ninth Chords

Basically, it's a very, very similar concept:

• Instead of using that chordal harmony chord, you're going to move one of the notes up.
• It's only one note that changes, but it becomes a ninth chord.

If you remember a few lessons ago, we looked at sliding sixth to ninth chords. This concept is sort of a mixture between both of those lessons.

Playing the A9 Chord

Here's what you're going to do:

• Play the ninth chord by positioning your fingers as follows:
  • Fifth fret on the D
  • Fourth fret on the G
  • Fifth fret on the B
  • Fifth fret on the E

So, there's our A9 chord.

Using the Blues Scale

The same concept applies:

• You'll be playing a blues scale, and your top note is the one you need to watch.
• Follow the top note while playing a blues scale in ninth chords over the top.

It sounds slightly different from the previous lesson using the stack nine or chordal harmony, but it has a definite flavor to it.

Jamming It Out

Okay, let's have a little go and jam over that then.

• Same thing: Vamp on the A.
• Count: 1, 2, 3.

That's some idea of ways you can have fun with this!

Practical Application

It's something that you can use when playing:

• A slow blues
• Some kind of funky groove

It always sounds quite nice if you're actually coming down to play that. It's not one that really suits blasting away, but if you have a section in the song where you bring it down, it always works spooky.

Okay, hope you enjoyed that!