How to Play Abadd9 on Piano

The Ab Add 9 chord sounds bright and open. It stacks 4 notes: Ab – C – Eb – Bb.

A plain major triad with a ninth added and no seventh. The gap where the seventh would be is what keeps it sounding clear rather than jazzy.

Notes in Abadd9

NoteIntervalFinger
AbAb4Root1
CC5Major 3rd2
EbEb5Perfect 5th3
BbBb5Major 9th5

How to Play

Right Hand

Place your thumb (finger 1) on Ab. Use finger 2 on C, finger 3 on Eb, and finger 5 on Bb.

Where it sits

3 notes of this chord (Ab, Eb, Bb) are on black keys, so play it a little further back on the keys than an all-white shape.

Press all 4 keys at the same time. Keep your wrist relaxed and your fingers curved. The blue dots on the piano below show exactly which keys to press — they turn green when you play the right note.

Other Add 9 Chords

Cadd9
C – E – G – D
Dbadd9
Db – F – Ab – Eb
Dadd9
D – F# – A – E
Ebadd9
Eb – G – Bb – F
Eadd9
E – G# – B – F#
Fadd9
F – A – C – G
F#add9
F# – A# – C# – G#
Gadd9
G – B – D – A
Aadd9
A – C# – E – B
Bbadd9
Bb – D – F – C
Badd9
B – D# – F# – C#

Other Ab Chords

Ab6
Ab – C – Eb – F
Ab7
Ab – C – Eb – Gb
Ab9
Ab – C – Eb – Gb – Bb
Ab
Ab – C – Eb
Abmaj7
Ab – C – Eb – G
Abaug
Ab – C – E
Absus2
Ab – Bb – Eb
Absus4
Ab – Db – Eb