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Dadd9/F#

"D add 9, with an F# in the bass." That's me. If talking to theory musicians, I might say "D add 9, first inversion."

Ya know, that "add 9" thing often gets confused. The question is: where do you want that 9 to be. For instance, I like what is sometimes knownn as "D2," which (as I understand it) means that the 9 is above the octave (as in 2 and 5 in the right hand on piano).
 
"D add 9, with an F# in the bass." That's me. If talking to theory musicians, I might say "D add 9, first inversion."

Ya know, that "add 9" thing often gets confused. The question is: where do you want that 9 to be. For instance, I like what is sometimes knownn as "D2," which (as I understand it) means that the 9 is above the octave (as in 2 and 5 in the right hand on piano).

Agreed on the first points. As for the 9th, it would have to be added a step above the octave of the root, so the chord could be voiced: F# A D D(8va) E (or it could be added an octave above that, but not as a 2). The term "add" has a very specific meaning; it means to add the 9th but not the 7th. This is a bit confusing, since most chords are better thought of (function-wise) as consisting of four tones, not three. Normally in jazz you'll see add 11 or add 13, which means 1 3 5 7 11 (or 13). If the word "add" is missing, all of the color tones or non-chord tones are included.

In this case, the "add9" creates an intentional ambiguity as to whether the chord is functioning as a Major chord or a Dominant chord - because the 7th is intentionally excluded. Whether the person who writes "Dadd9/F#" actually understands this is another question.
 
I just learned about two months ago that the note after the slash is a bass note, not am optional.

o_O

Songs sound so much cooler now. lolol

Sure - there are plenty of tunes the guitarist might stay in the same chord, while the bassist is moving the bass line (like the bridge in Let it Rain), or vice-versa, like when a guitarist is playing an open tuning and playing the low e string open through the chord changes.
 
Interesting..... I learned it as D9/F#, and I would play the 9th above the 8th and the F# bass as the root

D9/F# clearly defines the chord as a dominant 7th chord in first inversion with a 9th above. Dadd9/F# clearly defines the chord as a major triad in first inversion with no 7th and a 9th above.

Now, whether the person who wrote these chords actually realized the specificity of what they were writing is another story.

Lastly, no matter the chord, F# is not the root, it is the lowest note in the voicing of the chord. The root is always D.