C9b5 guitar chord
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About C9b5 — 9th in bass
C9b5 keeps the natural 9th of , but lowers its 5th to : C, E, Gb, Bb and D.
Keep the flat 5th audible. C9b5 is not with a flat 9th; the 9th is still natural.
Also written C9(b5), C9-5 or C9♭5.
What 9th in bass means
C9b5 in 9th in bass puts D in the bass instead of C, the 9th of the chord. The notes are the same; what changes is what the bass line does, which is most of why you would reach for it — it lets the lowest voice move by step where the root would have jumped.
One of C9b5’s 9 shapes does this:x5435x
How to use C9b5
C9b5 is a dominant with its tension raised, so it still points at — harder than a plain seventh does. A plain dominant has two voices a semitone from home; an altered one has four, because every altered tone is also sitting a semitone from a note of F. More voices leaning the same way is all "more tension" means here.
In a phrase:→→
The ii–V–I of F.
Voice by voice, C9b5 → . 3 voices move by a semitone, and one note is common to both chords. Those semitones are what the ear follows; the rest is the chord rearranging itself underneath.
| In C9b5 | Moves | In F |
|---|---|---|
| C, the root | stays where it is | C, the fifth |
| E, the major third | rises a semitone | F, the root |
| Gb, the flat fifth | falls a semitone | F, the root |
| Bb, the flat seventh | falls a semitone | A, the major third |
| D, the ninth | falls a whole tone | C, the fifth |
What to play over C9b5
Useful scales
- +G#
Contains C9b5 and adds sharp fifth.
- +GA
Adds fifth and thirteenth, for a dominant sharp-eleventh color.
Chords near C9b5
Remove a note
Change one note
3rd inversion 3rd inversion
The common shapes and the derived voicings come from different places, and both are explained in how this site is built.