When are 9th chords taught?
Found in: Accompaniment
Leanne I, Australia
Can anyone tell me if 9th chords are taught in Accompaniment 2?
Patti P., Hawaii
The +9 chord is in Accompaniment 1.
Leanne I., Australia
Yes, I have the add9 chord from Accompaniment 1, but not the 9th chord.
Mark M., New York
The 9th chord is covered in Blues & Improvisation and can then be extended toward use in accompaniment if you wish.
Anna J., Canada
Point of clarification…how is +9 different from a 9th chord in practical terms?
Ian C., Australia
The 9th chord includes the seventh, and has a totally different sound/use to the “+9”. I call the “+9” the “Carpenters Chord”–you can hear it to great effect at the beginning of “Close to You” (my wedding song!)
Mark M., New York
Without getting into too much theory, think of it like this. A number refers to a note. If a chord name tells you to add a number, it’s telling you to add just that note. If you see an odd number 7 or higher that itself names a chord, though, it automatically includes all odd number lower than itself as well. There’s a lot more to naming chords and why they are what they are, and a lot of it is very inconsistent because chord names aren’t a sort of “canonically” part of formal music theory so much as they are tools for popular musicians. But at least what I just said above is a good rule of thumb to help you sort out at least some facts/questions about odd number in chord names.