Chord family · 6 shapes
Add9 chords
An add9 chord adds the ninth to a triad while keeping the third. Cadd9 contains C, E, G and D. The ninth has the same pitch class as the second scale degree, even when a guitar voicing puts it inside the chord rather than at the top.
The fingering depends on the root. Cadd9 changes the upper strings of open C; Eadd9 adds F# on the high E string at fret 2. Fadd9 here is x-x-3-2-1-3, with G on top and no full barre.
added ninth
6 shapes · 4 with their own pageHow to use add9 chords in a song
An add9 can colour a major chord when the melody allows it. Try C and Cadd9 in the same place in a progression. Listen to the added D against the melody before treating the two chords as interchangeable.
Check the string that actually carries the ninth. For Cadd9 it is the B string at fret 3, while the high E string at fret 3 supplies G. For Eadd9 the high E string supplies the ninth F#.
A sus2 replaces the third; an add9 keeps it. Dsus2 is D, E and A, while Dadd9 also includes F#. The Dadd9 diagram here uses the A string at fret 5 and the D string at fret 4 to keep that major third.
Learn one add9 beside the plain triad on the same root. Keep the bass steady and alternate the two slowly. Then compare it with the sus2 on that root, listening for the third that makes the add9 sound major.
If you only try two of the shapes on this page, try Gadd9 and Aadd9: both can be reached from shapes you already know, so the change stays playable at speed. Listen to the chord that follows it in the loop — the resolution is the point of the chord, not the chord itself.
How to practise add9 chords
- Play C, Cadd9 and C. Listen for D on the B string at fret 3, and keep the high E string clear.
- Try Cadd9 in place of C in a familiar progression. Keep it only where the extra D fits the melody.
- Play Cadd9 then Csus2. Listen for E, the major third, in Cadd9 and its absence from Csus2.
Add9 chords in real songs
Four songs charted on this site use add9 chords, and in every case the added ninth is doing the same job: keeping a plain major chord from sounding plain.
- Wonderwall: the bridge turns on Cadd9, and the shape is one finger away from the C the rest of the song implies
- A Horse with No Name: Dadd9 is one of only two chords in the whole song, alternating with D6 for two and a half minutes
- Norwegian Wood: uses Eadd9 and Fadd9 as the opening pair, which is why the song sounds modal rather than major
- You Are My Sunshine: adds Fadd9 to a three-chord folk tune, and the last line changes colour completely
Printable family chart
Add9 chords with their own pages
These are the ones that turn up often enough in songs to deserve a full page — fingerings in every position, real progressions, and the songs that use them.