Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I will check back on this thread tonight when I get home. Sorry I'm not posting more but I'm very busy at work until the 15th.

You're on the forum when you should be working? For shame, dog!

Et tu, Juden?

Yeah, JB is right. C9.

Sheena, in post 3314 you drew a G#m6 of sorts... in 3rd inversion... I would just have a bass player play the E# (aka F) !!!

Oh, then...
-|-I-|-II-|III-|
e|-x-|---|---|
b|---|---|-x-|
g|---|---|-x-|
d|---|---|---|
a|---|---|---|
e|---|---|---|
What is that? (very easy, in fact - even i know how it's called... well, so it seems to me). D minor key, of course.
C9? So why this one:
-|-I-|-II-|III-|
e|---|---|---|
b|---|-x-|---|
g|---|-x-|---|
d|-x-|---|---|
a|---|-x-|---|
e|---|---|---|
is called B7 in quite a few books?!

Sheena, first chord is Bb, second chord is B9.

A B7 would look like this:

-|-I-|-II-|III-|
e|---|-x-|---|
b|---|---|---| (play open)
g|---|-x-|---|
d|-x-|---|---|
a|---|-x-|---|
e|---|---|---| (don't play)

RE: Sheena's -

-|-I-|-II-|III-|
e|---|---|---|
b|---|---|-x-|
g|---|---|-x-|
d|---|-x-|---|
a|---|---|-x-|
e|---|---|---|

It is not really a C9. For it to be a true C9 Chord it has to have a G (the 5th) and there is no G there. I suppose you could call it a C9-5.
If you could somehow wrap a finger at the third fret on one of the E strings, you'd have yourself a C9!

Ah, my bad! That's the right tab, John! Somehow i have no problem putting fingers on the right strings, but i do have a little trouble writing down the right tabs.
As far as Bb is concerned - yeah, that's right, i'd say Bb - "light" version, but i'm actually wondering if it could also be described as Dm something.

Mark, it is quite common in chord voicing for the 5th of a chord to be missing, simply because it is implied and unnecessary. The important parts of a chord are the root (tonic), the 3rd (determines whether major or minor) and the 7th, if there is a 7th.

JB, you are all right. I think I just might let you take over for me here until the 15th!!!

All you need for a "seventh" chord is a root and a seventh. Sounds crazy, but it's true. The third is very important to determine major or minor, but not needed to drive the direction, which is the main characteristic of the seventh chord.

When we get into "ninth" chords, we're swimming a little too far from Classical Beach out into Contemporary Ocean, where the rules are all but out the window and nearly anything goes.

The 7 of a 7th chord resolves to the 3rd of the following chord. (Ex: C7 --> F contains Bb-->A.) The 9th of a 9th chord merely serves as a color tone, or harmony to the 7th. (Ex: C9-->F contains D-->C, where the C is the 5th of the F chord.) It's not really a basis for anything, but it sure sounds cool, doesn't it???

So now we're drifting in Contemp. Ocean, waiting to get picked up by a shrimp boat, perhaps.

BTW, I play 9th chords all the time. Index finger on the A string, middle finger on D string, and bar the ring finger across G, B, AND E strings. They are easier to play the closer to the 12th fret you get. You can play James Brown songs all night. For a classic JB lick, play a few quick muted strums on E9, then play only the G,B,E strings two frets higher for the accented long note. Tons o' fun.

In Ronnie Earl's version of "San Ho Zay" he uses this really cool androgynous chord when comping behind the keyboard solo.

It works great in a lot of applications where you want to suggest a chord but let the rest of the band fill it out.

It looks like this:

E-------------------------------------X
B------------------------8-------------
G------------------7-------------------
D------------------------8-------------
A-------------------------------------X
E-------------------------------------X

Using this chord in the key of C, we have Bb, D, and G.

In relation to the key of C, The Bb is your b7th, the D is your 9th, and the G is your 5th. There is no root as that is covered by the bass, and the chord having no 3rd can cover either major or minor.

This is a great chord for comping along with others where you can fill a small hole without stomping on the obvious notes.

DISCLAIMER: Theory is not my strong suit so I may have gone and used the wrong terminology and context in explaining this, but it does work very well.

Bob, looks like an Ebmaj7 to me. Only thing that's missing is the root, which as you said, would be played by the bass.

So in this chord, we have the major 3rd - G, the perfect 5th - Bb, and the major 7th - D.

J, i'll be happy to pinch hit for ya in here.

I would call it a "G minor triad" which is the proper name for those three notes without implying any lockdown harmony as "G minor chord" would do.

Here's one I use in "Too Much Gravity" (for those w/my CD thinking of doing a Shamus Twins' cover band )

e-----------------
b---2-------------
g---2-------------
d-----------------
a---2-------------
e---2-------------

My fat fingers barre the strings, so I'm only using two. The other strings ring open.
It work on the first fret, too, where I think it's some sort of b flat.
Pretty on the second fret, though.

Later in the same song I go from an "Emaj" to this version of an F#9. I use this in a couple songs, I like it.

e----------0
b---2------
g-1--------
d---2------
a-1--------
e----------X

Granted it is common theory that if any interval of a chord can be dropped, it is the fifth. The fifth is flavorless. It’s the root, the third (and the 7th) that give the chord its zing!
But (and I admit being a purist here) leaving out an interval means it should have a different name.

Even roots are sometimes left out of chords with the ol’ explanation that the bass player is playing that note anyway. But a C Maj without a C is not really a C, is it?

And please pity the poor fifth. After all, if it wasn’t for the fifth, us bass players would probably have about fifty percent less notes to play.