Added-Tone Chord (add9, 6)

An added-tone chord is a triad with one extra note that is not the next third up. The two common added notes are the 9th and the 6th: Cadd9 is C–E–G with D added, and C6 is C–E–G with A added. Because there is no seventh, these chords keep the plain, stable feel of a triad, with an extra shimmer on top.

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add9

Cadd9 contains C, E, G and D. When the D sits close to the root, inside the chord, some charts write Cadd2 instead. It is a staple of pop and rock, and on guitar the open shape x-3-2-0-3-3 is one of the first "pretty" chords many players learn. Compare it with two close relatives:

• C9 also has D on top, but adds the seventh B♭ underneath it, which makes it a dominant chord (see extended chord).
• Csus2 (C–D–G) replaces the third with D instead of adding to it (see suspended chord).

The added sixth

C6 is C–E–G–A, and Cm6 is C–E♭–G–A. The major sixth chord was a favorite final chord in swing-era jazz, where a plain triad could sound bare. Combine both additions and you get C6/9 (C–E–G–A–D), common in jazz and bossa nova.

C6 has the same four notes as Am7 (A–C–E–G). Which name fits depends on the bass and the context: C in the bass and a C-major feel make it C6. In the 18th century, Jean-Philippe Rameau wrote about this kind of chord as the "added sixth" on the subdominant (F–A–C–D in C major) and pointed out that the same notes can also be heard as a D minor seventh chord.

Reading the symbols

A plain 9, 11 or 13 implies a seventh; "add" means there is none. So read closely: Cadd9 and C9 share the D, but only C9 has B♭. A plain 6 never implies a seventh, so C6 is simply C major plus A.

Practice reading them with Chord symbols and Reading a lead sheet.