Gospel Music Training Center

The Diminished Major Ninth Chord: The Toast Of Gospel Pianists/Keyboardists

In this lesson, we’ll be exploring one of the important aspects of the diminished major ninth chord.

Although diminished chords are rarely used most popular music styles, you can hear a lot of them in gospel music where passing chords are used extensively in chord progressions.

Before we go into our goal in today’s lesson, let”s take a closer look at the diminished major ninth chord.

A Closer Look At The Diminished Major Ninth Chord

The diminished major ninth chord is an extended diminished chord and the toast of gospel pianists and keyboardists.

Check out the the C diminished major ninth chord:

…which is basically a C diminished triad:

…with B and D:

…which are a major seventh:

…and a major ninth:

…above the root (which is C):

Side by side with the C major ninth chord:

…the C diminished major ninth chord can be seen as a C major ninth chord with a lowered third and fifth tone.

Lowering the third and fifth tones of the C major ninth chord:

…which are E and G:

…by a half step to Eb and Gb:

…produces the C diminished major ninth chord:

“Check Out All The Diminished Major Ninth Chords…”

C diminished major ninth chord:

C# diminished major ninth chord:

D diminished major ninth chord:

D# diminished major ninth chord:

E diminished major ninth chord:

F diminished major ninth chord:

F# diminished major ninth chord:

G diminished major ninth chord:

G# diminished major ninth chord:

A diminished major ninth chord:

Bb diminished major ninth chord:

B diminished major ninth chord:

Why Gospel Musicians Love The Diminished Major Ninth Chord

One of the reasons why gospel musicians love the diminished major ninth chord is because it’s tritonic.

Tritonic chords are chords that consist of the tritone – which is one of the fascinating elements of dominant chords.

If you take a closer look at the C diminished major ninth:

…(or any other diminished major ninth chord) you’ll see that the interval between its root (which is C) and its fifth (which is Gb):

…is a tritone.

Due to the fact that the diminished ninth chord contains the tritone, a vast majority of top piano players incorporate in the the formation of dominant chords and I’ll be showing you how they do that in the next segment.

The Application Of The Diminished Major Ninth Chord In Chord Formation

Final Words

 

 

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Chuku Onyemachi

Hello, I'm Chuku Onyemachi (aka - "Dr. Pokey") - a musicologist, pianist, author, clinician and Nigerian. I started teaching musicians in my neighbourhood in April 2005. Today, I'm humbled to work as a music consultant with HearandPlay Music Group for musicians in Africa and beyond.

Related posts:

  1. Common 2-5-1 Chord Progressions Every Gospel Pianist Must Not Be Without
  2. What Every Gospel Pianist Should Know About The 2-5-1 Chord Progression
  3. The Application Of The Major Seventh Sharp Five Chord: In The Formation Of Dominant Chords
  4. Sophisticate Your Chordal Arsenal With These Passing Chords In The Key Of E

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1 comment
Thulani zikhali says February 12, 2020

Thank you for giving us such a wonderful piano lessons and we are learning a lot.

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