Does anyone have an A Minor 9 chord for short fingered people?

[Mandolincelli]

Maybe I'm off on this but I'm assuming an A-9 is an A- with a B in it. For some reason, the Brian's Huge Chordlist Collection (which is my go-to chord list site) doesn't list minor 9ths.

So far, the best sounding chord I could come up with is:

0
7
9
5

But, this is hard for me to play cleanly. I would appreciate hearing your alternative fingerings.
Also, why wouldn't a chord chart list a minor 9th chord? I feel like I'm missing something here.

Thanks for your help,

Ken

[alexheflin]

Here are some options:

7 x x
3 2 2
5 2 7
x 2 5

You can play it so many ways!

[Michael Neverisky]

7
7
7
5

Two fingers. I'm away from my mandolin at the moment to actually hear the chord, but I believe that gets you

B
E
A
C

[Mandolincelli]

You Rock Alex!!! Thank you so much. I especially dig
x
2
2
2

You saved me a lot of time and I appreciate it very much! If I'm reading it correctly, the first option is G-C-B the second option is A-E-B and the third option is C-A-B. I was stuck looking for an ACEB combination, but your options work great. Ay! So much to learn.

[mrmando]

Well, there's always 0900, probably the easiest one.
4500 works too.
Or 5520.
Or 4530.
Or 0-10-0-7.

[Jess L.]

... hard for me to play cleanly. I would appreciate hearing your alternative fingerings....

The little freebie chord app I have on my Android devices, has the formation & sound shown in video below - they're saying to use Finger 1 (index finger) to make a barre chord across 2nd fret, then use Finger 2 on the 3rd fret of 1st string:


(or direct link)

I just noticed it doesn't include the third note of the scale, that differentiates between major vs minor... well with only 4 strings I guess we can't play *all* the notes of a 5-note chord...

I also just noticed a dumb typo I made in my video, in my video's text editor I should have typed "Am9", not "am9"... oh well, doesn't affect the chord app's results.

(An aside, I am perpetually mistaking that app's finger numbers for fret numbers... I wish there was an option to turn off the finger numbers and just see the plain diagrams.)

Anyway, I have some limitations due to arthritis, so if I had to play that chord as shown above, I'd just leave out some of the notes. I might even just play the two higher (treble) strings and forget about the bass notes altogether, if you're playing with guitar or something they probably already have the bass notes covered anyway.

... Also, why wouldn't a chord chart list a minor 9th chord? ...

I don't know, but the above-referenced chord app (Basichords, NFI) only has just that one formation for all the m9 chords, kinda odd since most of the rest of their chords show a bunch of different ways (inversions? is that the right word?) to play each chord. But for all the m9 mandolin chords they only have the barre chord shown in video but they scoot the formation up/down the neck to get all the other m9 chords. However, if I switch that same app to guitar, it shows several different ways to get each m9 chord. Very strange.

... I feel like I'm missing something here...

Me too! Are m9 chords just really uncommon or something?

[mrmando]

right on, nobody mentioned 2223.

The best voicings probably have both the third and the ninth in them (C and B). It doesn't bite quite the way it should without that major seventh in there. I haven't tried to play all these, but the 5777 voicing looks very promising. Out of the ones I submitted, 4530 probably sounds the best, but it's a bit of a finger twister.

[Don Stiernberg]

I usually play

2-2-3-7 from lo to hi...A-E-C-B, first finger barring the 2's, 2nd finger on the C, pinky gets the B

move that "shape" down a set of strings to 2-3-7 and you get Dm9

going way up to 9-10-12, that's Am so naturally 9-10-14 would yield Am9. Up there I'm more likely to play 12-10-12 so as to include the b7. Dropping that bottom string one fret now you're at 11-10-12 which gives you D13. That's a handy way to play a ii-V cadence that includes color tones(9 on the m7, 13 on V7)

In some chord melody arrangements I use 5-3-7 on the top 3 strings(D,A,E). Drop that onto the bottom3 and you have Dm9, and I use that for rhythm playing all the time..

[DavidKOS]

right on, nobody mentioned 2223.

The best voicings probably have both the third and the ninth in them (C and B). It doesn't bite quite the way it should without that major seventh in there. I haven't tried to play all these, but the 5777 voicing looks very promising. Out of the ones I submitted, 4530 probably sounds the best, but it's a bit of a finger twister.

I use 5577 - low to high, C G E B.

This is what I play for a C maj7 but it's also an Am9 with no root.

[Mandolincelli]

[QUOTE=mrmando;1596730]
Or 5520.

Actually, I need the chord because I've been recruited to play In Memory of Elizabeth Reed at our company picnic in 3 weeks, so I'm going for that Allman Bros. sound. (A-9//A-//A-9//D6). So far, the ones that work best (to my ear, anyway) are:

5 2 7
5 2 7
2 2 7
0 x 5

I really like the

2
2
2
3

but the first chord after the A-9 is a straight A-, so there isn't as much differentiation as the other fingerings above.

I'm really grateful for all the responses to this thread. Thank you all very much!

[Mandolincelli]

Hey Donnie:

Thanks for chiming in. As you can see, the Giants' season being what it is, I have much more time for mandolin.

I started with the 2-2-3-7 as the easiest way to grab the B but I felt it was too shrill and I wanted a more muted jazzier tone. I dig the A-9 to D13, though. Thanks for the tip.

BTW: I checked your website for when you'd be in CA next but couldn't tell if "Appearances" was for 2017 or 2018. Would you be doing the Benicia weekend again in 2018?

Cheers,

Ken

- - - Updated - - -

I use 5577 - low to high, C G E B.

This is what I play for a C maj7 but it's also an Am9 with no root.

I think this may be my best option. Thanks David!

[Tom Wright]

Skip the root and use 5-2-2-x. Rich tone and also useful as C maj 7.

[jesserules]

Without the seventh it would be an "Am add 9" chord rather than an Am9.

4-2-3-3 gives you ninth-fifth-minor third-dominant seventh.

Or just play what you want & let the guy with 6 strings fill in the rest. That's what he's there for!

[Tom Wright]

4-2-3-3 would be best described as Am/B. The interval of B to C is now an 11th.

The key is not an accounting of all the possible notes in a named chord, but to help the melody and bass by emphasizing a note with color or tension that is the melody straining against the bass and the main tonality. In any real song, the generic version of a chord will rarely be the best choice.

[DavidKOS]

4-2-3-3 would be best described as Am/B. The interval of B to C is now an 11th.

Sorry, the inverted Maj7 interval between the C and the B in this voicing is NOT an 11th.

A - C- E - G - B

Even if voiced with the B above the C, the C is still the 3rd of the chord. 11ths only come into play when they are altered, as in a #11 chord.

The inversion of a Maj7th interval like C to B is a minor 2nd.

I still say 5577 is the easiest and "best" voicing, as the 3rd, 7th and 9th are present.

[jesserules]

Sure, players have to bear in mind the particular function of the particular chord in the particular song when they decide how to play it. What sounds right, is right.

However, even though an Am7 (for example) chord may need to be voiced CEGA in a particular instance, that doesn't make it a C6. It remains, in such a case, just a differently voiced Am7.

[David L]

Sorry, the inverted Maj7 interval between the C and the B in this voicing is NOT an 11th.

A - C- E - G - B

Even if voiced with the B above the C, the C is still the 3rd of the chord. 11ths only come into play when they are altered, as in a #11 chord.

The inversion of a Maj7th interval like C to B is a minor 2nd.

I still say 5577 is the easiest and "best" voicing, as the 3rd, 7th and 9th are present.

I agree that the 5577 is the easiest and best, if you want an Am9. I have a feeling that the chord the OP (and most of the folks in the thread) are talking about is an A(add9), which doesn't have the 7th.

[David L]

4-2-3-3 would be best described as Am/B. The interval of B to C is now an 11th.

The key is not an accounting of all the possible notes in a named chord, but to help the melody and bass by emphasizing a note with color or tension that is the melody straining against the bass and the main tonality. In any real song, the generic version of a chord will rarely be the best choice.

4233 would be an Am/B only if the B in the mandolin was the lowest note being played by anyone at that moment. I doubt that is the case.

The interval from B to the C an octave above would be a minor 9th, not an 11th.

[Tom Wright]

Yes, bad arithmetic on my part. But if one was playing alone the B would feel like a bass note.

[40bpm]

In any real song, the generic version of a chord will rarely be the best choice.

Not to be too contrarian, but I view the generic/basic chords as valid choices. To me, it's all about the sound of chord transitions. Sometimes, moving thru a plain triad is perfect, especially in a group where others may be playing every oddball extension known to mankind.

[DavidKOS]

Yes, bad arithmetic on my part. But if one was playing alone the B would feel like a bass note.

Maybe, maybe not - say you played that same chord with an A as the lowest pitch, then a B as lowest pitch , then a C - then the B is just a part of a moving line.

Extended chords voiced with the most colorful note in the bass are not always my choice of inversion anyway.

[DavidKOS]

Not to be too contrarian, but I view the generic/basic chords as valid choices. To me, it's all about the sound of chord transitions. Sometimes, moving thru a plain triad is perfect, especially in a group where others may be playing every oddball extension known to mankind.

I agree completely - often the obvious chord voicing IS the best one.

No chord exists in a vacuum - it all depends on what chord is before it and where it is going to, as you say.

"others may be playing every oddball extension known to mankind"

I would hope those guys are playing appropriate chord changes, not just showing off what chords they know.

[ralph johansson]

I find this kind of question all but impossible to answer. I'ts all about context. Are you devising a chord solo or an accompaniment? Is the ninth a passing melody note or a color note in the accompiment? What are the chords before and after that am9? What other instruments are there, etc. etc. etc.?

One song I worked up a couple of years ago is Chilton Price's Slow Poke, in Bb. Towards the end there's a progression that I interpret as Ebmaj7, ebm add 9, Bb (maj or add 9), G9. For the first three I use three parts in parallel motion: eb-g-d, gb-bb-f, d-f-c, b-f-a (leaving out the root and fifth of the G9) on the three bottom courses. With other instruments one or two of these chords may clash with, e.g., the guitar or piano, and I would have to do something else (and less).

The ebm9 shape transposed to am9 would be c-e-b. In accompaniment I would probably have to play some other shape, using other notes of the chord - I would perhaps also have to decide whether to include the fourth. Again, it's all about context.