Upper Partial Chord Tones

The 9th, 11th, and 13ths of a chord.

Published: 02 Jan 2005 Updated: 05 Jun 2024Visits: 2Code: UL42-ext

Category: ChordsInstrument: Chords Subjects: Chords • Intermediate • Advanced • Jazz

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Upper Partial Chord Tones


Upper Partials or extensions are the 9th, 11th, and 13ths of a chord. The 9, 11 and 13 can be altered chord tones depending on the type: examples b9, #9, #11, b13.

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These numbers, the 9, 11 and 13 refer to the scale tone/chord tone relative to the major scale used for building all chords.

At this stage of your development, you should know the notes of the fingerboard and have a core foundation of 4-part chords, a.k.a."Jazz" chords and can create these on the fly if they're not already part of your core music vocabulary.

A simple rule to remember is that a ninth (9th) chord is created by raising the root of ANY chord a whole step.

See Upper Partials and Chord Extensions lesson for an expanded lesson on this topic with a PDF download.

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Related Lessons, Videos, Lesson Series, Songs, Books & Reference Charts, Resources & Assets, Workshops are below.

Related Lessons

Related Lessons for Upper Partial Chord Tones.

UL42L4-ext

Upper Partials and Chord Extensions

Updated: 17 Oct 2023

A chord extension or upper partial are the chord tones above the octave and not one of the fundamental 4-part chord tones. These are the ninths, elevenths and thirteenths of chords. All chord extensions on ukulele will displace a fundamental chord tone. This is even true for guitar with the ability to add the extension to another string.

Related Lesson Series

Related Lessons Series for Upper Partial Chord Tones.

Core “Jazz” Ukulele Chords - The Big Six

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Core Chords for Ukulele, The Big Six - From four F7 chord voicings or shapes, your can build your massive 4-part, a.k.a., “jazz” chord vocabulary. Beyond basic open position chords, basic movable form chords and a core set of 4-part chords. There are just too many chords shapes too memorize.

Movable Form Ukulele Chords

Updated: 01 Jan 2003

Movable Chords are chords without open strings that can be transposed to any key up and down the fingerboard. This series covers the movable chords based on the basic open position chords as well as contemporary 4-part, a.k.a. "jazz" chords.

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Related Songs for Upper Partial Chord Tones.

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Any Song Will Do

Updated: 07 Dec 2015

This is not really a song, but simply saying that for the purposes of a lot of the lessons and lesson series on this site ANY song will do for exploring the lesson's material and concepts presented in the lesson.

Related Books & Charts

Related Books for Upper Partial Chord Tones.

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A Guide to Advanced Ukulele Chords - Volume I

Updated: 13 Feb 2020

Beyond learning basic Ukulele chords, most players struggle with advanced chords. Commonly called "jazz" chords, these more sophisticated voicings find a wide use in all forms of music. A Guide to Advanced Chords for Ukulele - presents a highly organized and efficient approach to the mysterious subject of advanced chords. Chord dictionaries are not the answer.

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Exploring Jazz Chords on Ukulele

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Exploring jazz chords using a variety of common chord progressions based on songs from the standard jazz repertoire. Core Chords are the basic set of chords needed to play a wide range of music, in a variety of styles. This set of chords includes basic open position chords, basic movable form chords and the core 4-part "jazz" chords.

A Selection of Books & Reference Charts that are recommended for creating a solid foundation with your chosen instrument and music in general.

Books

Learning the Ukulele Fingerboard – C Tuning

Finally, learn the names of the notes of the fingerboard.

Six Secrets of Ukulele Fingering

Learn the six fingering principles to navigating the ukulele fingerboard. Fingering is one of the most universal topics.

Harmonic Analysis for Scale Selection and Chord Substitution

Harmonic Analysis is the understanding of the functional sequence of chords. It is the process used to analyze the harmonic structure of a progression, song or composition.

Ukulele – Reading Music Series – Primer

Learn to read single note melodies in the first/open position is a lot easier than you might think.

Daily Practice Material for the Contemporary Ukulele

An organized collection of daily practice and reference material for the contemporary ukulele player for developing the vocabulary and knowledge necessary for single note playing.

Checkout the Books for ALL available books.

Reference Charts

Ukulele Fingerboard Chart for C Tuning, Low or High G - G C E A

Ukulele Fingerboard Chart for C Tuning, Low or High G – G C E A

Ukulele Fingerboard Chart for G Tuning, Low or High A – D G B E

Ukulele Fingerboard Chart for G Tuning, Low or High A – D G B E

Key Signatures — Circle of Fourths and Fifths – ANSI A & A4 sizes

A handy reference chart of all 15 major and relative minor key signatures. US Letter 8.5 x 11 sized (ANSI-A) , A4

Checkout the Books for additional Handy, Dandy Reference Charts.

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