Chicago Blues

Description

The use of the 9th chord is our first introduction to one of the chordal concepts of Chicago Blues. The 9th chord is essentially a Dominant 7th chord, with an added 9th from the major scale. Our 9th is the same note as the 2nd from our scale, typically played one octave up. These voicings add a new variety to your blues rhythm playing and translate well to other styles of music as well. This example will utilize a 12 Bar Blues in A, and our chords are as follows:



I - A9

Notes: A C# E G B (our 9th)

IV - D9

Notes: D F# A C E (our 9th)

V - E9

Notes: E G# B D F#(our 9th)



Let's take a look at how to play these chords and integrate them into our blues playing.