In the last couple of lessons, we covered some of the basic barre chord shapes for major and minor chords, as well as major7, minor7, and dominant7 chords, with the root on the fifth and sixth strings. This week, I’ll be covering a few more chord shapes, including a few 9 chords, and one 13 chord.
9 chords are just the next step after 7 chords, and each 7 chord has a few 9 chords related to it. First chord up is a major9 chord. It’s related to the major7 chord, and like the major7 chord, it’s a very light, airy sound. Here’s the shape for a Cmajor9, on the 8th fret of the 6th string. And the 5th string shape, on the 3rd fret.
Here’s a dominant9 chord, usually just called a 9 chord. Like the dominant7, it’s great for jazz and funk. Here’s the 6th string shape, and the 5th-string.
Adding a #9th to a dominant 7 chord gives you a 7#9, usually called the Hendrix chord. Here’s the 6th-string shape, and the 5th.
Our last 9 chord is a minor9. Like the minor7, this is a relaxed, jazzy chord. Here’s the 6th-string shape, and the 5th string.
Finally, we have the 13 chord, which is great for blues and jazz. That’ll look like this on the 6th string, and on the 5th string.
That’s it for barre chords. Next week, we’ll take a look at how these chords are built, so you can understand the theory behind them, instead of just memorizing shapes.
