Ninth Chords On The Piano

Here is a transcript of the video in case you want to follow along:

Good morning. This is Duane, and today I’d like to talk about ninth chords on the piano, forming and using 9th chords. First of all, let’s define what a 9th chord is. It seems obvious, but it’s a chord that includes the 9th note of the scale in it.

For example, if we’re playing in the key of C, then the 9th note is D,

because that’s 8, obviously, and that’s 9. Okay? But a 9th almost always includes, doesn’t have to, but it almost always includes a lower interval such as a 7th,

or a major 7th. Okay? So let’s define these kinds of 9th chords. That’s called a major 9th,

because the chord under it is all major, isn’t it.

The chord is major, and the 7th is major that’s under it. Okay? That would be a dominant 9th,

dominant 9th because it has a dominant 7th in. That would be a minor 9th.

Okay? So using two hands, I could play this.

This is dominant. That’s a minor 9th.

Okay, if you like that kind of sound, that’s what they are.

Here’s a D minor 9th, E minor 9th, and so on. Okay?

They can be very nice,

parallel chords like that. Okay? But let’s use them in context. Let’s say I’m playing,

you know that song, “A foggy day in London Town.” Okay. I’m going to play it like this.

Notice my first chord. It’s a C chord, but I leave out the C and I play the 9th and the major 7th. So that’s a

major 9th right there.

“A foggy day.” And that’s, I won’t talk about that.

Just defining that. But if I play that,

what would that be? That would be a C minor 9th, wouldn’t it? Because I have a minor chord plus the 7th. So there’s also a flat 9th chord that you can use like this.

It’s usually with a dominant, so that would be a flat 9th. I use a flat 9th.

That’s a flat 9th, that sound.

It usually resolves, but not always. Okay?

That’s a flat 9th.

So there’s a variety of 9ths that you can use, and you just need to work them out. Now, if you want to get a 9th chord in just one hand, here’s what you have to do.

It’s best to play it in second inversion,

and then add the dominant 7th, and then add the 9th like that. Okay? And you may say, well, where’s the root? Well, good question. But you can play the root down here. You could go.

Or a major 9th like that. Okay? If you need to get it all in one hand, that’s the best way I’ve found it, to play it in second inversion and then to form it that way.

So that’s a little introduction to 9th chords, and you can explore them on your own from here, I think. So thanks for being with me today, and we’ll see you again tomorrow with a little tip. If you like these kind of short piano tips, then come on over to PlayPiano.com, and sign up for our free newsletter on piano chords and chord progression. So we’ll see you there. Bye-bye for now.

Here is the video on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVX3XDDZx_s

And here is a Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ninth_chord

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