F#7#9 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 F#7#9 — 9th in bass
F#7#9 is F#, A#, C#, E and A — F#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.
F#7#9 notes and formula
| F# | A# | C# | E | A |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | 5 | ♭7 | ♯9 |
Also written F#7(#9), F#7+9 or F#7♯9. The same chord either way; which spelling you meet depends on who wrote the chart.
How to play F#7#9
F#7#9 in 9th in bass puts G## in the bass instead of F#, the 9th 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 F#7#9’s 9 common shapes does this:x-12-11-11-11-12
Play F#7#9 as a shell — root, third and seventh — and the spare string takes the #11 (B#), the b13 (D) or the 13 (D#).
All 9 common shapes as fret numbers, lowest string first. Hover or tap one to see it drawn.
- 2122xx, 1st fret, F#, root position, top note A, barred
- x12222, 1st fret, A#, 1st inversion, top note F#, barred
- 242325, 2nd fret, F#, root position, top note A, barred
- 242355, 2nd fret, F#, root position, top note A, all fretted
- xx4355, 3rd fret, F#, root position, top note A, all fretted
- x44355, 3rd fret, C#, 2nd inversion, top note A, all fretted
- x-9-8-9-10-x, 8th fret, F#, root position, top note A, all fretted
- x-12-11-11-11-12, 11th fret, G##, 9th in the bass, top note E, barred
- 14-13-14-14-14-14, 13th fret, F#, root position, top note F#, barred
How to use F#7#9
F#7#9 is a dominant with its tension raised, so it still points at B — harder than a plain seventh does, because the altered tones sit a semitone from where they are going.
In a phrase:C#m7→F#7#9→Bmaj7— the ii–V–I of B.
Voice by voice, F#7#9 → B. 2 voices move by a semitone, and one note is common to both chords.
| In F#7#9 | Moves | In B |
|---|---|---|
| F#, the root | stays where it is | F#, the fifth |
| A#, the major third | rises a semitone | B, the root |
| C#, the fifth | falls a whole tone | B, the root |
| E, the flat seventh | falls a semitone | D#, the major third |
| A, the sharp ninth | rises a whole tone | B, the root |
What to play over F#7#9
Every note of F#7#9 is in F# half-whole diminished.
Chords near F#7#9
Change one note of F#7#9 and you have F#m7 (drop the major third), F#m9 (the major third becomes the ninth), F#7 (drop the sharp ninth), F#9 (the sharp ninth becomes the ninth) or F#7b9 (the sharp ninth becomes the flat ninth).
F#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.