The choice for this week’s Guitar Chord Of The Week was inspired by the Brazilian World Cup. Our featured chord is a major 6/9 (Maj6/9) shape with an open, Latin sound. Learn the chord, then play it in the Brazilian-style chord progression provided.
The major 6/9 chord is a major triad with added sixth and ninth notes. Therefore, with a root of C, the chord would contain the following notes: C, E, G (the major triad) plus A (the sixth) and D (the ninth). Notation for a C Major 6/9 chord is shown below.
This is the notation and tab for this week’s chord shape being used to play a C6/9 chord:
Common chord symbols for major 6/9 chords are: Maj6/9 or just 6/9.
Playing 6/9 Chords
At first, this chord can be a little tricky to play. However, it’s by no means the hardest chord you’ll learn and you’ll soon get used to playing it.
The 6/9 chord can be slipped around the neck with ease, and you can incorporate rhythmic, one-fret slides into your strumming patterns.
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The tricky part is the ‘mini-barre’ made with the third finger over the top two strings. An alternative way of fingering the chord, without this extra barre, is shown below.
Although it may seem easier at first, it actually takes fractionally longer to finger this chord this way.
Major 6/9 Chord Progression
As we said, this week’s chord choice was inspired by the World Cup. Therefore we have provided a breezy, Brazilian-style chord progression for you to practice playing the 6/9 chord with.
As well as the major 6/9, this progression contains some other nice jazzy chords. Play the progression slowly at first as you get used to playing them.
Try giving the chords a bossa-nova rhythm for that authentic Brazilian sound. Here’s a little inspiration:
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