F9b5 guitar chord
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About F9b5 — 3rd inversion
F9b5 keeps the natural 9th of , but lowers its 5th to : F, A, Cb, Eb and G.
Keep the flat 5th audible. F9b5 is not with a flat 9th; the 9th is still natural.
Also written F9(b5), F9-5 or F9♭5.
What 3rd inversion means
F9b5 in 3rd inversion puts Eb in the bass instead of F, 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.
2 of F9b5’s 11 shapes do this:xx1203x-x-13-14-12-15
How to use F9b5
F9b5 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 Bb. More voices leaning the same way is all "more tension" means here.
In a phrase:→→
The ii–V–I of Bb.
Voice by voice, F9b5 → . 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 F9b5 | Moves | In Bb |
|---|---|---|
| F, the root | stays where it is | F, the fifth |
| A, the major third | rises a semitone | Bb, the root |
| Cb, the flat fifth | falls a semitone | Bb, the root |
| Eb, the flat seventh | falls a semitone | D, the major third |
| G, the ninth | falls a whole tone | F, the fifth |
What to play over F9b5
Useful scales
- +C#
Contains F9b5 and adds sharp fifth.
- +CD
Adds fifth and thirteenth, for a dominant sharp-eleventh color.
Chords near F9b5
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3rd inversion · open strings 3rd inversion open strings open strings
The common shapes and the derived voicings come from different places, and both are explained in how this site is built.