Last month we showed you one of the great chord substitution tricks for blues and jazz. any 7th chord (dominant, major or minor) can be reduced to two notes: the 3rd and 7th. those two notes define the chord’s flavour. the 5th is usually optional and the root is generally covered by the bass. the first four diagrams show how this applies to a blues in D (with two options for D7).
ThIs time, though, we’re going to take the concept further, adding the 9th to each chord. These minimal chord shapes make it very easy to add other extensions, while still retaining the clear sound that allows them to blend very well in a full band...
The transformation might not be so obvious here, but note that the omitted low root (D) and the 7th (C) are both still at the 10th fret. We’ve then shifted the 3rd (F#) onto the B string, to make space for the 9th (E) in between. here’s another option...
If you’ve ever played 9th chords before, the next two here might be more familiar to you. It’s a stripped-down version of the old funk cliché chord. fInally, the A9 is the same shape as the G9, but shifted up two frets. To increase your chord knowledge...