The Dm(add9) chord on guitar: D minor with an added ninth

Dm(add9) is D minor with one extra note, E, floating on top. The chord keeps its dark color, because F, the minor third, is still there, but the added ninth gives it air. It sounds best let ring, picked one string at a time.

Dm(add9) chord: notes and shapes at a glance

• Name: D minor add nine
• Symbol: Dm(add9)
• Notes: D, F, A, E

Each shape below is written from the thickest string to the thinnest: a number is the fret, 0 an open string, x a string you do not play. New to this? See how to read chord diagrams.

Read each diagram from the thickest string on the left to the thinnest on the right. A cross means the string is not played, a circle means it rings open.

The one rule: keep the F

An add9 chord adds a note; it does not replace one. Here is how Dm(add9) compares with the chords it is most often confused with:

The trap is the open shape xx0230. It is often labeled as an easy Dm(add9), but it plays D, A, D and E: no F, so it is a Dsus2. Pretty, but not minor. For the major cousin, see Dadd9.

How to play Dm(add9), from easy to full

Start with xx3230. Second finger on the D string at fret 3 (F), first finger on the G string at fret 2 (A), third finger on the B string at fret 3 (D), high E open (E). Play the top four strings. Check that the third finger does not touch the open E: that string carries the ninth.

Then add the bass. Let the open A ring under the same hand for x03230, or move to x53255 to put D itself in the bass. In x53255 the fourth finger holds both the B and high E strings at fret 5; keep the thumb low behind the neck to open the hand for the stretch down to fret 2.

Two open voicings to know. They ring open strings while fretting high up, so they are written out here instead of drawn:

• xx0260: open D, G string fret 2 (A), B string fret 6 (F), open high E (E). First finger at fret 2, fourth finger at fret 6. The F sits right next to the open E, and that rub is the whole sound of the chord.
• x57760: the D minor shape at the fifth fret (A string 5, D string 7, G string 7, B string 6) with the high E left open on top.

Where Dm(add9) fits

Dm(add9) can stand in for a Dm when the chord lasts long enough for the ninth to be heard: an intro, the end of a phrase, a slow arpeggio. Try it at the start of these progressions:

• Dm(add9), Bb, F, C
• Dm(add9), Gm, Bb, A
• Dm, Dm(add9), Dm: the ninth appears and disappears over the same bass

The added E belongs to the keys of D minor, F major and C major, where Dm is the i, vi and ii chord. Be careful in B flat major, where Dm is the iii chord: that key has Eb, not E, and the add9 will clash with the melody. In any song, if the ninth fights the tune, go back to plain Dm.