How to Play a Ninth Chord on the Guitar

Ninth chords sound beautiful on the guitar. You construct a ninth chord by playing the root, third, fifth, seventh, and ninth degrees of a scale. In this article you will learn how to play a ninth chord that can be played in any position on the guitar.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• guitar

1. Barre the 3rd fret of the guitar. Lay your forefinger over the third fret of every string on the guitar to create the barre. This will be the anchor for our chord. Since we are starting on the third fret, that makes this a G ninth chord.

2. Place your ring finger on the fifth fret of the A string (fifth fret.) This is the note D. It is the fifth degree of the G major scale.

3. Place your middle finger on the fourth fret of the G string (third string.) This is the seventh degree of the G major scale. The seventh is a crucial note in giving this chord its unique character.

4. Place your pinky on the fifth fret of the high E string (first string.) This is the ninth degree of the G major scale. The ninth softens the sound of the chord giving a beautiful jazzy sound.

5. Strum the chord. That's it. You just played a ninth chord on the guitar!

Tips & Warnings

• The great thing about this chord is that it can be played ANYWHERE on the guitar. Just move your barre to a different fret. If you play on the fifth fret, you are playing an A ninth chord, the sixth fret would be a B flat ninth chord and so on.