D♭ minor added 9th chord

Playing it

On guitar, D♭m(add9) has an open-position shape, x41120, using four fingers alongside the open strings. Don’t strum the low E string.

On piano, D♭m(add9) has three black keys (D♭, A♭ and E♭) and one white key. In root position it spans more than an octave, so many pianists play the root with the left hand and the rest with the right.

On ukulele the usual D♭m(add9) shape is 1304, using three fingers.

Related chords

Move a single note and D♭m(add9) becomes a different chord: drop the E♭ for D♭m, swap E♭ for C♭ for D♭m7, drop the F♭ for D♭sus2 and swap E♭ for B♭ for D♭m6.

Where you’ll hear it

Notice the F♭ in D♭m(add9) (D♭ F♭ A♭ E♭): each note of the chord takes its own letter (D–F–A–E), so the minor 3rd has to be written F♭ rather than E — the same key on a piano, spelled to fit the chord.