Dmaj7 add9?

**galacticnote** · 03-18-2012, 11:04 PM

5th

[-----[-----[-----[-----[] x (E)
[-----[--o--[-----[-----[]
[-----[-----[--o--[-----[]
[--o--[-----[-----[-----[]
[-----[-----[-----[--o--[]
[-----[-----[-----[-----[] open (e)

I am somewhat familiar with why chords have names, however this chord is giving me trouble. Is it also possible that this can be called

Dmaj7 Add9 -5?

(1,3,7,9)

Any help would be awsome, this is driving me a bit crazy.

Im using the chord for example Eadd9-Am9-(chord in question)-Am add2

Thanks

-Mark

**JakeAcci** · 03-19-2012, 12:00 AM

Dmaj7 with a 9th is called Dmaj9. The omission of a fifth doesn't affect the chord's name in this case.

I generally think of "add9" chords as chords that have no 7th, as to write "Dmaj9" implies the presence of a 7th, and D9 implies the presence of a flatted seventh.

**galacticnote** · 03-19-2012, 12:09 AM

Ahh, thank you very much, so i can safely refer to this as a Dmaj9, but with the added open E does that mean i can call it Dmaj9/E or Dmaj9add2?? im not sure how to address the E, i know its the 2, and that the 2=9. Im new to the website, sorry if this belongs in beginners section.

-Mark

**BigDaddyLoveHandles** · 03-19-2012, 12:10 AM

I smell spam.

**galacticnote** · 03-19-2012, 12:17 AM

i actually just signed up for an account about an hour ago, i dont know what all that stuff is under my comments, dont know how to take it off, not spam, just looking for help with this chord.

-Mark

**galacticnote** · 03-19-2012, 12:22 AM

ok i think i fixed the problem.

**BigDaddyLoveHandles** · 03-19-2012, 12:29 AM

That's better! Could you explain that fingering in the original post? (Are you left handed?) A typical DMaj9 fingering could be x5465x, for example.

**galacticnote** · 03-19-2012, 12:37 AM

No i am right handed, In that format it is x54630 (playing the higher E open)

**BigDaddyLoveHandles** · 03-19-2012, 12:44 AM

Okay, I got it now. I'm slow today. Jake nailed it. 5th in chords are often dropped, but you could put the 5th in the bass since you're doubling D now: 5x4630.

**galacticnote** · 03-19-2012, 01:13 AM

Im still unclear about what i can actually call this chord , Or for writing it down to play with someone else. Because of the added E.

**JakeAcci** · 03-19-2012, 01:23 AM

Originally Posted by galacticnote

Ahh, thank you very much, so i can safely refer to this as a Dmaj9, but with the added open E does that mean i can call it Dmaj9/E or Dmaj9add2?? im not sure how to address the E, i know its the 2, and that the 2=9. Im new to the website, sorry if this belongs in beginners section.

The added open E is the 9. Without it, the chord would just be Dmaj7.

Dmaj9/E is a chord symbol that means a Dmaj9 with E as the bass note.

Dmaj9add2 is basically redundant as 9 basically is the same as 2.

By the way, to clear up confusion, just write the note names of the chord from low to high. It's D F# C# D E, correct? That way we're more concerned with the pitches and their order (which is the information needed to name the chord) rather than the fingering of the chord.

**galacticnote** · 03-19-2012, 01:28 AM

Thanks a Ton, noted for future.

**JakeAcci** · 03-19-2012, 01:43 AM

By the way, when you are playing with jazz musicians they will typically freely interpret written chord symbols, so being extremely specific to the point of having to use somewhat obscure chord symbols sometimes does more harm than good.

For example, about major seventh chords:

The formal spelling is 1, 3, 5, 7. So any combination of 1, 3, 5, and 7 makes a "real" major seventh chord.

But on a major seventh chord jazz musicians will typically freely add 9,13, and/or sometimes #11. If there is a bass player present, it's usually assumed the bass player will be covering the root so the comping instrument doesn't necessarily have to include the root in his voicing. Fifths are freely ommitted in a major seventh chord.

So if you write "Dmaj7" on a chart and give it to a pianist or guitarist who understands chord symbols, it's likely that they'll play something with a ninth anyway.

If you have a very specific voicing you'd like another person to play, you are much better off simply notating that voicing rather than looking for the exact right name for that chord.

For example, Dmaj9 is unquestionably the correct name for the chord that is spelled D, F#, C#, D, E, but if you handed me a chart that had "Dmaj9" written on it, I may not play that exact voicing. If you wrote those five notes on a staff I would play my part as written.

**RyanM** · 04-05-2012, 12:17 AM

I don't know how to read that tab...

**BigDaddyLoveHandles** · 04-05-2012, 11:03 AM

Originally Posted by RyanM

I don't know how to read that tab...

In the original post? X54630

**coolvinny** · 04-05-2012, 01:44 PM

Originally Posted by galacticnote

No i am right handed, In that format it is x54630 (playing the higher E open)

If you're new to jazz and especially if you're coming from the world of open strings, then I suggest you avoid open strings for a good long while so you can re-wire your brain more effectively to the jazz idiom. Play the chord above as x5465x.

Maybe if you're ending the tune, then play the open-string variation for a nice, dramatic ringing effect.