By:

Jeff Ellwood
9th Chord Shapes
www.jeffellwood.net
Melody is an essen5al ingredient in my approach to improvisa5on. When coming up with melodic material, I like to use note
th
clusters that I should be familiar with. For this exercise I use 9 chord shapes. I like to come up with as many varia5ons of
th
a 9 chords as possible (I some5mes use a series of note cards to randomize the order for me) I also want to apply these
shapes to apply upper structure or altered sounds on any given chord. This means I want to build this shape from all the primary
chord tones.

Example:
rd th th
CMA7 = CMA9, E-9 from 3 , GMA9 from 5 , B-7b9 from 7
(No5ce that I am using the F# on all these chords. For This sound, I like to use the C lydian scale

œ
C ma7 C ma7 C ma7 C ma7
4
&4 œ œœ Œ œ œ #œ Œ œ œ #œ œ Œ œ œ # œ œ
Œ
œœ œ œ œ

Example:
rd th th
C-7 = C-9, EbMA9 from 3 , G-9 from 5 , BbMA9 from 7

œ œ œ
C mi7 C mi7 C mi7 C mi7
œ Œ œ œ Œ œ œ œ œ
& œ bœ œ bœ bœ œ b œ œ bœ Œ bœ Œ

rd th
C7 = C9, E-9b5 from 3 , GmiMA7 from 5 , BbMA9#5 from 7th
No5ce that I am using the F# on all these chords. For This sound, I like to use the C lydian b7 scale

œ œ
C7 C7 C7 C7
œ
b œ œ Œ œ #œ œ #œ œ # œ
&
œ œ
œ œ œ bœ Œ œ bœ Œ bœ Œ

Example:
rd th th
C-7b5 = C-9b5, EbmiMa7 from 3 , GbMA9#5 from 5 , Bb9 from 7 .
For this sound I borrow chords from the related melodic minor scale. C-7b5 = Eb melodic minor

C mi7(Ñ5) C mi7(Ñ5) C mi7(Ñ5) C mi7(Ñ5)

œ
œ œ Œ œ bœ œ bœ
& bœ bœ bœ œ Œ bœ b œ b œ bœ bœ œ Œ bœ œ Œ
œ

©
2 9th Chord Shapes

This gets a bit more complicated

Example:
rd th th
C7alt = C#-MA7 from root of C# mel mi, EMA9#5 from 3 of C# mel mi, G#9 from 5 of C# mel mi, C-7b5b9 7 of C# mel mi
For this sound I borrow chords from the related melodic minor scale. C7alt = C# melodic minor

C 7ALT C 7ALT C 7ALT

#œ
C 7ALT
b œ b œ bœ
#œ #œ Œ # œ #œ #œ Œ # œ # œ œ bœ
& #œ #œ #œ #œ Œ Œ
#œ œ œ

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Here on some examples of some 9 chord variaJons. Adjust the octave accordingly to make the best sounding melodies.
This will take some experimentaJon.

œ œ œ œ
C ma7 C ma7 C ma7 C ma7
œ œ œ œ œ Œ œ œ œ œ œ
&œ œ œ œ œ Œ Œ
œ
Œ

œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
7
C ma C ma7 C ma7 C ma7
œ œ
& œ œ Œ œ œ Œ œ œ œ
œ Œ œ
œ œ Œ

rd th th
Transfer these shapes to the other parts of the chord 3 , 5 , 7
Here is an example on C-7. The shape is 3-2-7-1-5

C mi7 C mi7 C mi7 C mi7

b
B ma7 œ b œ
b
E ma7
œ bœ bœ Œ G mi7 œ œ œ œ œ œ Œ
& bœ œ bœ œ œ Œ œ œ bœ œ Œ

Here is the shape from above applied to a 2-5-1 progression.

NoJce the C7alt (A C#-MA9 is borrowed from the melodic minor sound)

G mi7 C 7ALT
œ #œ #œ
F ma7 œ œ œ
œ œ œ œ #œ œ œ
& b œ œ Œ Œ Œ
 9th Chord Shapes 3

7-9-3-1-5 shape

G mi7 b C 7ALT b9 F ma7

œ 9
bœ œ A mi9
œ œ bœ
B ma A
& œ Œ bœ œ bœ bœ Œ œ œ œ œ Œ
5th degree of D b melodic minor

Mixing up the shapes

G mi7 C7 F ma7
C ma9 œ
œ œ bœ œ œ œ
E –7
œ œ œ
& bœ œ œ Œ œ #œ Œ Œ

Combined with scale mo8on or bebop type phrases

G mi7 C 7ALT b9 F ma7

œ œ œ bœ bœ A bœ bœ. œ œ œ
&œ œ b œ œ œ œ J œ œ
˙
G mi7 C 7ALT F ma7
œ œ #œ œ nœ œ œ #œ #œ #œ. œ œ œ œ œ ˙
9 (#5)
E ma
& b œ œ #œ J
G mi7 C7 F ma7
œ œ œ œ œ. œ ˙
7
œ œ œ œ bœ
D mi
J œ œ œ œ
& œ œ œ
b
œ œ œ
7
C mi F 7ALT B ma7
bœ bœ. j # œ #œ nœ. #œ œ bœ œ
& #œ œ #œ J œ ˙
b
œ œ œ
7
C mi F 7ALT B ma7
bœ bœ. j œ ˙
& #œ œ #œ #œ #œ nœ œ bœ œ œ œ
b œ