D♯ minor added 9th chord

Playing it

There’s no open-string way to play D♯m(add9) on guitar with the root in the bass, so the standard shape is a barre across the 11th fret (11-13-13-11-11-13). While you build strength, you can play just the top four strings of the same shape (x-x-13-11-11-13).

On piano, D♯m(add9) has three black keys (D♯, F♯ and A♯) 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 8668, using four fingers up at the 6th fret.

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 E♯ in D♯m(add9) (D♯ F♯ A♯ E♯): each note of the chord takes its own letter (D–F–A–E), so the major 9th has to be written E♯ rather than F — the same key on a piano, spelled to fit the chord.