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How to Play and Apply Add9 Chords

To make chords, chord progressions and songs more colorful guitar players use chord embellishments.

Chords like sus2, sus4, maj6, maj7 and add9 can all be used to spice up your playing and create more interesting sounds.

The add9 chord is a big favorite in pop and acoustic rock music.

Chord Analysis

The add9 chord is simply a major triad with an added ninth (9).
The major triad consists of the root (1), the major third (3) and the perfect fifth (5).
So the add9 chord formula = 1 3 5 9

Let’s take Cadd9 chord as an example.
We look at the C major scale: C D E F G A B C and we take the root (1st), 3rd, 5th and 9th note of that scale and you get the notes: C-E-G-D. So Cadd9 = C E G D

6 Reasons You Want to Learn the Notes on The Fretboard and How

By Klaus Crow 11 Comments

In this lesson you’re going to discover Why you need to Learn The Notes on the Fretboard and How. It may seem obvious that when you learn to play guitar you also need to learn the notes on the fretboard. How can you play music without knowing the note names? Well believe it or not, there are a lot of guitar players out there who don’t have the slightest clue what they are playing and they do just fine.

I didn’t know all the notes on the fretboard for a long time either. And yes I could still play all my favorite tunes and improvise over chord progressions. But there were limitations that I wasn’t aware of at the time. Huge limitations!

Once I started learning the notes on the strings and figuring out what the notes of chords, scales and licks were, things started to change. One discovery let to another and a lot of things suddenly made sense and became clearer. My knowledge expanded and my playing improved. I learned all this in small steps.

Extended Chords 9th 11th 13th for Guitar

By Klaus Crow 7 Comments

Extended chords are usually used in jazz music, but also in other styles like pop, blues and latin music to spice up chord progressions and add some nice flavor to the chords.

When I first learned the theory behind extended chords, it opened up a whole new world for me. All these mysterious chord names made finally sense.

I would use the chords for my own material, incorporate them into some of my favorite guitar songs and started learning some wicked jazz tunes.

Once you play around, experiment and incorporate these chords into your playing it will make guitar playing really fun and colorful.

If you’re new to chord construction then first check out How to Use Chord Formulas and Their Benefits and How to Play The Most Common Types of 7th Chords. These posts will give you the basic chord theory you need.

Let’s dive in…

Triads and 7th Chords

Extended chords are the 9th, 11th and 13th chords.

To understand the chord structure of extended chords we must first know the major and minor triad and three types of seventh chords. We use the “C” chord as an example to show the chord names.

The Best High Quality Affordable Acoustic Guitars 2021

By Klaus Crow 25 Comments

It’s amazing how the quality of affordable guitars is improving these days.

I can still remember the time when you would have to dig deep into your pockets to get a guitar with a decent tone.

Nowadays you can buy really good quality and a great sounding guitar for a reasonably cheap price.

Whether you want a guitar from one of the manufacturers that have proven high quality over decades or solid wood guitars built with passion and care, it’s all within reach.

I’m often pleasantly surprised when I hear and feel some of the lower priced guitars at the guitar store or when my students hand over their freshly new bought guitars for me to try out. After a while they dare to interrupt me, “Hey Klaus, Sir… Excuse me! Can we get on with the guitar lesson, please?” and I’m like “Oh yeah, right, Sorry. Where were we?”. I just get lost when a good sound captures me.

What you pay and get for these guitars is just really good. Don’t get me wrong, a 3000 dollar Martin or Taylor will take your sound to the next level, but we’re talking medium priced guitars here. Guitars with a good sound that give you a lot of value for your money.

When I play a Martin DX1RAE, a Mini Taylor (mahogany top) or a Cort 200 (all between 300 and 650 dollars)… I don’t know how to put a stop to my bucket list. They are all stunning beauties in their own way.

So, if you don’t want to spend a fortune, but neither want a cheap guitar that lacks quality and tone, then these guitars are the real deal.

Note: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Check out the list of great affordable guitars:
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