C#7b9 guitar chord
The standard grips this chord is usually shown with.
- Tap a note to hear it
- Arrows change position
- Fingers, notes or intervals
- Play the chord
About C#7b9 — 3rd inversion
C#7b9 is C#, E#, G#, B and D — C#9 with the ninth lowered a semitone.
It sounds dark and urgent. The flat ninth comes from the harmonic minor, so this is the V of a minor key rather than a major one.
C#7b9 notes and formula
| C# | E# | G# | B | D |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | 5 | ♭7 | ♭9 |
Altered dominant — it points at a minor chord.
Also written C#7(b9), C#7-9 or C#7♭9. The same chord either way; which spelling you meet depends on who wrote the chart.
How to play C#7b9
C#7b9 in 3rd inversion puts B in the bass instead of C#, the 7th 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 C#7b9’s 6 common shapes does this: x-x-9-10-9-10.
Start with x40467 — no barre and 1 open string. 1 of the 6 shapes here sits in open position. 2 of the 6 need a barre. Together they cover the neck from the 3rd fret to the 12th.
| Frets | Where | Bass | Top | Hand |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| x43434 | 3rd fret | C#, root position | G# | barred |
| x40467 | open position | C#, root position | B | 1 open string |
| 98970x | 7th fret | C#, root position | D | 1 open string |
| x-x-9-10-9-10 | 9th fret | B, 3rd inversion | D | all fretted |
| 9-11-9-10-9-10 | 9th fret | C#, root position | D | barred |
| x-x-11-10-12-10 | 10th fret | C#, root position | D | all fretted |
The same notes rebuilt from scratch give 3 shell, 12 drop 2, 8 drop 3, 15 rootless and 3 open string voicings, each on its own page.
Tensions. A shell of C#7b9, root, third and seventh, leaves a string free, and the tones that belong over it are the #11 (F##), the b13 (A) and the 13 (A#).
How to use C#7b9
C#7b9 is a dominant with its tension raised, so it still points at F# — harder than a plain seventh does, because the altered tones sit a semitone from where they are going.
Voice by voice, C#7b9 → F#m. 3 voices move by a semitone, and one note is common to both chords.
| In C#7b9 | Moves | In F#m |
|---|---|---|
| C#, the root | stays where it is | C#, the fifth |
| E#, the major third | rises a semitone | F#, the root |
| G#, the fifth | rises a semitone | A, the minor third |
| B, the flat seventh | falls a whole tone | A, the minor third |
| D, the flat ninth | falls a semitone | C#, the fifth |
What to play over C#7b9
Every note of C#7b9 is in C# half-whole diminished.
Chords near C#7b9
Change one note of C#7b9 and you have C#7 (drop the flat ninth), C#alt (the fifth becomes a sharp fifth), C#9 (the flat ninth becomes a ninth) or C#7#9 (the flat ninth becomes a minor third).
C#7b9 is an altered chord — a dominant seventh with its fifth or ninth moved. Altered dominant chords on every root.
On C#7b9’s sound and use this page follows Mark Levine, The Jazz Theory Book (Sher Music, 1995). The shapes and the derived voicings come from different places, and both are explained in where the chords and the theory come from.