F9 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.
- Tap a note to hear it
- Arrows change position
- Fingers, notes or intervals
- Play the chord
About F9 — open string voicings
F9 is F, A, C, Eb and G — F7 with the ninth stacked on top.
It sounds bright and full, still clearly pulling. The ninth adds height without softening the tritone underneath it, which is why funk and soul comp on this rather than on a plain 7.
F9 notes and formula
| F | A | C | Eb | G |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | 5 | ♭7 | 9 |
Dominant — the same pull as a 7, with more colour.
Also written Fdom9 or F dominant 9. The same chord either way; which spelling you meet depends on who wrote the chart.
How to play F9
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.
F9 has 3 of them, on strings 6-5-4-3-2 and the middle four strings, from the 3rd fret up to the 6th — every inversion the chord has: A in the bass and Eb in the bass. The one to learn first is the A shape at the 3rd fret, which is the easiest grip here.
Start with xx3243 — no barre and down at the nut. None of the shapes for F9 uses an open string, so every one of them is movable; the lowest sits at the 1st fret. 6 of the 9 need a barre. Together they cover the neck from the 1st fret to the 15th.
| Frets | Where | Bass | Top | Hand |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 131213 | 1st fret | F, root position | G | barred |
| xx3243 | 2nd fret | F, root position | G | all fretted |
| 5x3543 | 3rd fret | A, 1st inversion | G | all fretted |
| x87888 | 7th fret | F, root position | C | barred |
| x-10-10-10-10-11 | 10th fret | G, 9th in the bass | Eb | barred |
| 13-10-10-12-10-11 | 10th fret | F, root position | Eb | barred |
| 13-12-13-12-x-x | 12th fret | F, root position | G | all fretted |
| 13-15-13-12-13-15 | 12th fret | F, root position | G | barred |
| 13-15-13-14-13-15 | 13th fret | F, root position | G | barred |
The same notes rebuilt from scratch give 4 shell, 13 drop 2, 8 drop 3 and 14 rootless voicings, each on its own page.
Tensions. A shell of F9, root, third and seventh, leaves a string free, and the tones that belong over it are the #11 (B), the b13 (Db) and the 13 (D).
How to use F9
F9 is the V of Bb, and that is where it goes if it goes anywhere: the third and the flat seventh are a tritone apart, and both resolve by a semitone into Bb.
Voice by voice, F9 → Bb. 2 voices move by a semitone, and one note is common to both chords.
| In F9 | Moves | In Bb |
|---|---|---|
| F, the root | stays where it is | F, the fifth |
| A, the major third | rises a semitone | Bb, the root |
| C, the fifth | falls a whole tone | Bb, the root |
| Eb, the flat seventh | falls a semitone | D, the major third |
| G, the ninth | falls a whole tone | F, the fifth |
In which keys. Every note of F9 belongs to G minor (the ♭VII) and Bb major (the V, the dominant).
What to play over F9
Every note of F9 is in F mixolydian and F lydian dominant.
Chords near F9
Change one note of F9 and you have Fmaj9 (the flat seventh becomes a major seventh), Fm9 (the major third becomes a minor third), Fadd9 (drop the flat seventh), F69 (the flat seventh becomes a sixth), F7 (drop the ninth) or F9b5 (the fifth becomes a flat fifth).
F9 is a dominant chord — root, major third, fifth, minor seventh. Dominant seventh chords on every root.
On F9’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.