Apr 19, 2023

Ukulele Chords and How to Use Them: Dominant 9 Chords


Learn how to easily use these for any song...

Ukulele Chords and How to Use Them: Dominant 9 Chords

Or as a sub for any chord!

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Find all my chord related posts here: Chord Tips and Tricks

Previously we've talked about the following:

Embellishments for the I (or IV) chord are:

This is the continuation of my "Ukulele Chords and How to Use Them" Series, in this lesson we look at the dominant 9.

Any Dominant (or altered dominant*) can be subbed for the V chord (or any other chord); as we've learned previously - any chord can be a dominant. And we've seen this in action in a blues progression as well.

In many blues progressions all the chords are dominant 7's - but they could be any dominant chord or any combination dominants (9's; 13's) and other chords.

Most commonly we'll find the dominant 9 as a sub (or embellishment) for the V chord...

The two most common dominant subs for the V chord are the dominant 9 and the dominant 13, the other popular subs would be altered dominant chords...

*Altered dominants can't be used for the I chord unless you play an unaltered V7 first (unless your name is Jimi Hendrix or SRV - then you may use a dominant 7#9 for the I chord in as many songs as you like). Remember: There are exceptions to every rule.


Check out the dominant 9


Listen to each...
Ukulele Chords and How to Use Them: Dominant 9 Chords

What do you think?

Each one is unstable - and pulls towards the tonic.

Lets look at how each resolves to the tonic...

Here is it with the G7
Ukulele Chords and How to Use Them: Dominant 9 Chords

And here with the G9
Ukulele Chords and How to Use Them: Dominant 9 Chords

You'll notice a more intense resolution with the dominant 9; the 9th tone is the 6th tone of the tonic...

You may find the dominant 9 to have an exciting feeling of movement.


About the dominant 9 chord


The dominant 9 consists of 5 tones; the root note (1); a major third (3); a perfect fifth (5); a minor 7 (b7); and the 9th tone (9).

To make the dominant 9 we take a dominant 7 chord and raise the root note 1 step (two frets).

These - like many of the most effective ukulele chord forms - are based on 'drop two' jazz guitar chord from. A jazz guitar player may play these exact forms on the guitar.

Many of the forms for these chords you might find on the internet and in chord books may include the root note and not the 5th - If you've run across them you may have noticed that they are harder to use and harder to play.

Dominant chords are written (for the chord symbol) without the word 'dominant' like so: C9 or G9. Major or minor 9's always include the words 'major' or 'minor.'
Ukulele Chords and How to Use Them: Dominant 9 Chords

GRAB YOUR (PDF) DOMINANT 9 CHORD CHARTS HERE (Charts show DOMINANT 9 chords all the way up the neck).


Let's look at some progressions using dominant 9's


Here it is as the V in a I - VI - ii - V with a dominant 9 for the V:
Ukulele Chords and How to Use Them: Dominant 9 Chords

Here we take a ii - V - I and use a dominant 9 for the ii and the V and we resolve with a major 6:
Ukulele Chords and How to Use Them: Dominant 9 Chords

Here we make the vi and the V dominant 9's, and use a major 9 for the I chord in a I - vi - ii  - V:
Ukulele Chords and How to Use Them: Dominant 9 Chords

The rule here is "any chord can be a dominant" so have some fun...

To learn how to create beautiful chord progressions in any key get my "Secrets of the Chord Chain" books.

Chord book and all scales harmonized with chords:

RELATED VIDEO

In this video we look at the rule 'Any chord can be a dominant'


Do me a favor and 'like' the video on YouTube and post a comment (on YouTube) to let me know what you think - thanks!

Ukulele Chords and How to Use Them: Dominant 9 Chords

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