C6/9 — C sixth added ninth chord
A major triad with the sixth and the ninth added, and no seventh. The two added notes are a whole tone apart, which is why the chord sounds open rather than tense.
- 1 = C
- 3 = E
- 5 = G
- 6 = A
- 9 = D
- Symbol
- C6/9
- Root
- C
- Quality
- Sixth added ninth
- Family
- added
- Notes
- C E G A D
- Degree formula
1 3 5 6 9- Semitones from the root
0 2 4 7 9- Distinct pitch classes
- 5
- Interval structure
- Stacked from the root: 4 semitones, 3 semitones, 2 semitones, 5 semitones
- Notation
- Written 6/9 or 6add9. Common as a tonic chord in jazz, bossa nova and soul, and as the closing chord of a turnaround.
- Key
- C · C major / A minor key signature
Formula
The chord tones in order from the root, with the interval each one forms above it.
| Degree | Note | Semitones | Interval from the root |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | C | 0 | Perfect unison |
| 3 | E | 4 | Major third |
| 5 | G | 7 | Perfect fifth |
| 6 | A | 9 | Major sixth |
| 9 | D | 2 | Major second |
Inversions
An inversion is the same set of notes with a different one in the bass. The last column gives the distance of each note above the bass note, in semitones.
| Inversion | Bass note | Degree in the bass | Notes above the bass | Semitones above the bass |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| root position | C | 1 | C – E – G – A – D | 0 4 7 9 2 |
| first inversion | E | 3 | E – G – A – D – C | 0 3 5 10 8 |
| second inversion | G | 5 | G – A – D – C – E | 0 2 7 5 9 |
| third inversion | A | 6 | A – D – C – E – G | 0 5 3 7 10 |
| fourth inversion | D | 9 | D – C – E – G – A | 0 10 2 5 7 |
Playable voicings
These shapes were found by searching the fretboard of a standard-tuned guitar (E A D G B E) rather than copied from a chord book. The search allows every string to sound or to be muted, rejects any shape with a muted string between two sounding strings, rejects any shape whose fretted notes span more than four frets (a five-fret window), requires every chord tone to be present, and then sorts what remains with root-position shapes first and the most compact, lowest shapes next. The shapes shown are the first six of that ordering; other orderings are possible at the same frets.
| # | Shape (low string first) | Notes | Degrees | Bass | Span (frets) | Sounding strings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 8-7-7-7-8-8 | C E A D G C | 1 3 6 9 5 1 | C | 1 | 6 |
| 2 | 8-10-10-9-10-10 | C G C E A D | 1 5 1 3 6 9 | C | 2 | 6 |
| 3 | 8-5-5-5-5-5 | C D G C E A | 1 9 5 1 3 6 | C | 3 | 6 |
| 4 | 8-5-5-7-5-5 | C D G D E A | 1 9 5 9 3 6 | C | 3 | 6 |
| 5 | 8-7-5-7-5-5 | C E G D E A | 1 3 5 9 3 6 | C | 3 | 6 |
| 6 | 8-7-5-7-8-5 | C E G D G A | 1 3 5 9 5 6 | C | 3 | 6 |
Shape numbers run from the lowest string to the highest, so the left-hand number is the sixth string (low E) in standard tuning. Multiple shapes are listed because a chord can be voiced several ways, and because a lower position is not always the better sounding one.
Related chords and scales
- KeyEverything in C
- ScaleC major
- ChordC6
- ChordC
- ChordC7
Related
- KeyKey of C
- ScaleC major
- ChordC6 — Sixth
- ChordC — Major
- ChordC7 — Dominant seventh
- ChordCadd9 — Added ninth
- ChordCm6 — Minor sixth
- ChordCm6/9 — Minor sixth added ninth