Eb7#9 guitar chord
An open string left ringing against a fretted grip. Because it costs no finger, it sounds a note the closed shape has none left for -- a tension on top, or a pedal root underneath. Either a familiar grip with open strings added, or a shape so sparse the open strings carry the chord. These belong to their key rather than to a shape, so D, A, G and E have many and Eb a handful.
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About Eb7#9 — open string voicings
Eb7#9 is Eb, G, Bb, Db and F# — Eb9 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.
Eb7#9 notes and formula
| Eb | G | Bb | Db | F# |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | 5 | ♭7 | ♯9 |
Altered dominant — dominant function with a blues third on top.
Also written Eb7(#9), Eb7+9 or Eb7♯9. The same chord either way; which spelling you meet depends on who wrote the chart.
How to play Eb7#9
An open string left ringing against a fretted grip. It costs no finger, so it can sound a note the closed shape has none left for: a tension on top, or a pedal root underneath.
These belong to their key rather than to a shape: they cannot be moved up the neck. D, A, G and E have many; E♭ has a handful.
Eb7#9 has 2 of them, on strings 6-5-4-3-2 and the middle four strings, from the 3rd fret up to the 4th — every inversion the chord has: G in the bass and Db in the bass. The one to learn first is the Db shape at the 4th fret, which is the easiest grip here.
Start with xx1022 — no barre and 1 open string. 1 of the 9 shapes here sits in open position. 4 of the 9 need a barre. Together they cover the neck from the 1st fret to the 14th.
| Frets | Where | Bass | Top | Hand |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| xx1022 | open position | Eb, root position | F# | 1 open string |
| x6567x | 5th fret | Eb, root position | F# | all fretted |
| x98889 | 8th fret | F#, 9th in the bass | Db | barred |
| 11-10-11-11-x-x | 10th fret | Eb, root position | F# | barred |
| x-10-11-11-11-11 | 10th fret | G, 1st inversion | Eb | barred |
| 11-13-11-12-11-14 | 11th fret | Eb, root position | F# | barred |
| 11-13-11-12-14-14 | 11th fret | Eb, root position | F# | all fretted |
| x-x-13-12-14-14 | 12th fret | Eb, root position | F# | all fretted |
| x-13-13-12-14-14 | 12th fret | Bb, 2nd inversion | F# | all fretted |
The same notes rebuilt from scratch give 5 shell, 13 drop 2, 9 drop 3 and 13 rootless voicings, each on its own page.
Tensions. A shell of Eb7#9, root, third and seventh, leaves a string free, and the tones that belong over it are the #11 (A), the b13 (Cb) and the 13 (C).
How to use Eb7#9
Eb7#9 is a dominant with its tension raised, so it still points at Ab — harder than a plain seventh does, because the altered tones sit a semitone from where they are going.
Voice by voice, Eb7#9 → Ab. 2 voices move by a semitone, and one note is common to both chords.
| In Eb7#9 | Moves | In Ab |
|---|---|---|
| Eb, the root | stays where it is | Eb, the fifth |
| G, the major third | rises a semitone | Ab, the root |
| Bb, the fifth | falls a whole tone | Ab, the root |
| Db, the flat seventh | falls a semitone | C, the major third |
| F#, the sharp ninth | rises a whole tone | Ab, the root |
What to play over Eb7#9
Every note of Eb7#9 is in Eb half-whole diminished.
Chords near Eb7#9
Change one note of Eb7#9 and you have Ebm7 (drop the major third), Ebm9 (the major third becomes a ninth), Eb7 (drop the minor third), Eb9 (the minor third becomes a ninth) or Eb7b9 (the minor third becomes a flat ninth).
Eb7#9 is an altered chord — a dominant seventh with its fifth or ninth moved. Altered dominant chords on every root.
On Eb7#9’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.