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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
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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!
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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.
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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?
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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…
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