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9th’s and 6th’s

Home › Forums › Active Melody Guitar Lessons › 9th’s and 6th’s

  • This topic has 10 replies, 6 voices, and was last updated 2 years, 1 month ago by Frank A.
Viewing 7 reply threads
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    • May 6, 2023 at 4:20 pm #342878
      Frank A
      Participant

        Brian repeatedly refers to the 9th chord (and go up 2 frets for the 6th), but I’m looking for a bit more explanation. For instance, a D9 triad is the same as an Am triad. Does he go over this in more detail in any lessons?

      • May 6, 2023 at 4:36 pm #342879
        Mark H
        Participant

          Yes, Brian does go over the 6th & 9th chord 2-fret apart relationship in at least two or maybe three prior lessons that I know of; maybe more, I’ve only been here just over a year.

          If I can find any of them I’ll post them here; I was thinking about reviewing them myself after watching this week’s EP516

          In one of them he does discuss how the triad 9th or 6th is abbreviated, but it sounds good, and when you’re in triad territory you’re by definition going to be abbreviating any chord that requires 4 or more tones. I don’t recall which chord interval he omitted though. You could probably figure it out from EP516

          • May 6, 2023 at 10:19 pm #342882
            Frank A
            Participant

              Mark, yes, Brian frequently references the 6th and 9th, and their proximity on the fretboard. I was just looking for a bit more understanding. And wondering if he had gone deeper in any previous lessons.

          • May 6, 2023 at 6:51 pm #342880
            Michael L
            Participant

              When you’re playing the 6th and 9th chords on the top 3 stings you don’t get the full triad of the chord. You primarily get the extention notes above the triad.

              Take the D9; the notes that make up a 9th chord are Root, maj 3rd, 5th, flat 7th, 9th. That’s 5 notes in the full chord. D, F#, A, C, E. On the top 3 strings at the 5th fret you get C, E, A. By itself it is an Am triad, If your bass player or backing track add the D (or just the musical context) it sounds like D9. That Am triad is sometimes called an “upper-structure” triad in this context. (Jazz term) Note that you can play the full D9 by getting the D at the 5th string, 5th fret, and the F# at the 4th string, 4th fret. BTW, when the flat 7th is left off it’s a Dadd9 chord. The theory here is all about extension of Dom7th chords.

              The 6th chord is a little different, but the same idea. 6th chords have Root, maj3, 5, 6. Only 4 notes. For D6: D, F#, A, B. At the 7th fret, top 3 stings, you get that Bm triad of B, F#, D. Again, in context, you get the D6th chord sound. Only the A (5th) is left out, which is a weaker chord tone.

              Hope this helps!

              • May 6, 2023 at 10:20 pm #342883
                Frank A
                Participant

                  Thanks Michael

              • May 6, 2023 at 7:59 pm #342881
                Mark H
                Participant

                  Wow! Thanks Michael.

                • May 7, 2023 at 12:59 am #342885
                  Laurel C
                  Moderator

                    Hi Frank, This a great lesson EP 362: Learn how easy it is to play rhythm (and lead) by only concentrating on triads (simple 3 note chords). Everything in this lesson is played on the top 3 strings, making it easy to concentrate on learning (less variables). You’ll learn the major, minor, dominant 7, 6 and 9 chord voicings in 3 positions on the neck. This lesson comes with 5 PDF’S with all the triads (1) Minor Chord Triads (2) Major Chord Triads (3) Dominant 7 Chord Triads (4) 6 Chord Triads and (5) 9 Chord Triads for you to download and compare.

                    6-and-9

                  • May 7, 2023 at 2:35 am #342890
                    JohnStrat
                    Participant

                      Hi Frank You’ve had some great replies here. It made me just do a search for ‘triad’ to see what would come back, it returns 24 results. No doubt if you cherry pick your way through them and particualrily with lesson 362 as Laurel has mentioned you will be a pretty adept triad picker!
                      JohnStrat

                    • May 7, 2023 at 5:56 pm #342924
                      Frank A
                      Participant

                        OK! All your responses have been massively helpful! But I have a convoluted question now.

                        I understand the following “simplified” idea: To find the 6 chord triad when playing in a MAJOR key, I just find the relative minor and play that triad. That makes sense.

                        My question is: If I am playing in a minor key, how do I find the corresponding 6th triad? Is there a simplified (Brian-esh) method for figuring this out?

                      • May 8, 2023 at 3:22 am #342926
                        Jean-Michel G
                        Participant

                          Hi,

                          It sounds like you’re confusing “the chord built on the 6th degree of the tonality” and “the chord with an added major 6th note”…

                          In the C major key (C D E F G A B), the 6th degree is the note A; the (diatonic) triad built on that scale degree is (A, C, E) = Am.
                          In the D major key that would be Bm, etc.

                          The relative minor scale of any major scale is (by definition) the scale containing the exact same notes as that major scale, but whose tonic is the 6th degree of that major scale.
                          So, the relative minor scale of C major is A (natural) minor: A B C D E F G.
                          The triad built on the 6th degree of that latter scale is F = (F, A, C).
                          The relative minor of A major is F# minor: F# G# A B C# D E. The triad built on the 6th degree of that scale is D.

                          As Michael explained very well, when you construct a chord “with an added major sixth interval above the tonic” you don’t get a triad since the chord has at least four notes. You get a fuller chord. For example, C6 = (C, E, G, A), Am6 = (A, C, E, F#), etc.
                          In doing so you add tension to the chord.

                          Now, when you are playing in a major or minor key, there is nothing to stop you from making the diatonic triads bigger and fuller by adding tension notes; that M6 interval is one way of doing in it; it is very common in some genres such as swing jazz, western swing and gypsy swing.

                          Hope this helps…

                          • May 8, 2023 at 11:48 am #342941
                            Frank A
                            Participant

                              Jean-Michel, thanks for this. I will work through it.

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