C#7#9 guitar chord
Playable, correctly spelled, and not how the chord is normally voiced. Right now this is the shapes that put a ninth, eleventh or thirteenth below the root.
- Tap a note to hear it
- Arrows change position
- Fingers, notes or intervals
- Play the chord
About C#7#9 — uncommon voicings
C#7#9 is C#, E#, G#, B and E — C#9 with the ninth raised a semitone.
It sounds gritty and contradictory. The minor third sounding over the major third; every guitarist knows it as the Hendrix chord.
Altered dominant — dominant function with a blues third on top.
C#7#9 notes and formula
| C# | E# | G# | B | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | 5 | ♭7 | ♯9 |
Also written C#7(#9), 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#7#9
Five notes and four fingers, so something has to go. Keep E#, B and E (they fix the quality). Let G# and C# go, in that order — a perfect fifth says nothing the root has not, and in a band the bass has the root.
Play C#7#9 as a shell — root, third and seventh — and the spare string takes the #11 (F##), the b13 (A) or the 13 (A#).
All 9 common shapes as fret numbers, lowest string first. Hover or tap one to see it drawn.
- x43420, open position, C#, root position, top note E, 1 open string
- x4345x, 3rd fret, C#, root position, top note E, all fretted
- x76667, 6th fret, D##, 9th in the bass, top note B, barred
- 9899xx, 8th fret, C#, root position, top note E, barred
- x89999, 8th fret, E#, 1st inversion, top note C#, barred
- 9-11-9-10-9-12, 9th fret, C#, root position, top note E, barred
- 9-11-9-10-12-12, 9th fret, C#, root position, top note E, all fretted
- x-x-11-10-12-12, 10th fret, C#, root position, top note E, all fretted
- x-11-11-10-12-12, 10th fret, G#, 2nd inversion, top note E, all fretted
How to use C#7#9
C#7#9 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.
In a phrase:G#m7→C#7#9→F#maj7— the ii–V–I of F#.
Voice by voice, C#7#9 → F#. 2 voices move by a semitone, and one note is common to both chords.
| In C#7#9 | Moves | In F# |
|---|---|---|
| C#, the root | stays where it is | C#, the fifth |
| E#, the major third | rises a semitone | F#, the root |
| G#, the fifth | falls a whole tone | F#, the root |
| B, the flat seventh | falls a semitone | A#, the major third |
| E, the sharp ninth | rises a whole tone | F#, the root |
What to play over C#7#9
Every note of C#7#9 is in C# half-whole diminished.
Each of those is a page: the scale across the neck, and the chords it harmonises into — which is where C#7#9 sits in it. Every scale.
Chords near C#7#9
Change one note of C#7#9 and you have C#m7 (drop the major third), C#m9 (the major third becomes the ninth), C#7 (drop the sharp ninth), C#9 (the sharp ninth becomes the ninth) or C#7b9 (the sharp ninth becomes the flat ninth).
C#7#9 is an altered chord — a dominant seventh with its fifth or ninth moved. Altered dominant chords on every root.
The common shapes and the derived voicings come from different places, and both are explained in how this site is built.