Playable BooksREADING EDITIONS
Rimsky-Korsakov, Practical Manual of Harmony in English

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov · section 43 of 96

Ninth chords

Read and hear this section in the playable edition →
Also in
Theory of HarmonyArnold Schoenberg · the ninth chordTreatise on HarmonyJean-Philippe Rameau · the ninth chordGuide to the Practical Study of HarmonyPyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky · the ninth chord

§ 42.—1) The ninth chord consists of a seventh chord with a further third added, a ninth above the bass.

2) As an independent chord it is considered only on the fifth degree; it is therefore classed among the dominant harmonies.

3) When the ninth is major it is called the major ninth chord; when the ninth is minor it is called the minor ninth chord.

4) The major ninth chord is found on the fifth degree of the natural major mode, and the minor ninth chord on the fifth degree of the harmonic major and minor modes:

The ninth chord on the fifth degree: in C major with major ninth (G–B–D–F–A), in harmonic C major with minor ninth (A♭), and in A minor (E–G♯–B–D–F); each figur
Fig. 145 · See it in the reader

5) To lay out the ninth chord in four parts, the fifth is omitted.

6) The ninth descends to the fifth of the tonic triad that follows it as its resolution, and the other parts move according to the rule for resolving the dominant seventh chord.

7) The ninth chord is placed after the triad of the fourth degree, the two chords being connected harmonically, preferably with the ninth in the upper part:

IV–V9–I in harmonic C major (ninth A♭) and iv–V9–i in A minor (ninth F), the common tones held, the ninth in the soprano resolving down to the fifth of the toni
Fig. 146 · See it in the reader

(*) Unless one is at the end of the chorale. (Translator's note)

(**) Such a realization represents a transition from the strict style to the free style.

8) In the natural major mode it is allowed as a passing chord between the triad of the IVth degree and its first inversion.

Ninth chord on V (9) as a passing chord between IV and IV6, then V6/5 – I, in C major
Fig. 147 · See it in the reader

9) In general this chord is used fairly rarely.

We give no special exercises for the use of this chord; the student will compose several examples of eight bars using the ninth chord without overusing it.