F#9

F#9 is F#, A#, C#, E and G#, a dominant ninth. The shape this page opens on is written 2121xx, lowest string first.

Also written F#dom9 or F# dominant 9. The same chord either way; which spelling you meet depends on who wrote the chart.

There are 9 common shapes for F#9 on the guitar, and 40 derived voicings in 5 families.

In which keys. Every note of F#9 belongs to Ab minor (the ♭VII) and B major (the V).

The common shapes, written lowest string first: 2121xx, 242324, 242124, xx4354, 6x4654, x98999, x-11-11-11-11-12, 14-11-11-13-11-12, 14-13-14-13-14-x.

Shell. Root, third and seventh: the guide tones fix the quality, so the fifth is dropped. That is what leaves a string free, so pick a tension to put on top. F#9 has 2121xx, xx4354, x9899x, 14-13-14-13-x-x.

Drop 2. A close-position chord with the second voice from the top lowered an octave. Sits on four adjacent strings. F#9 has 2121xx, xx4354, x9899x, 14-13-14-13-x-x, x1415x, 4743xx, x7637x, 6969xx.

Drop 3. The third voice from the top lowered an octave. The dropped voice becomes the bass, which is why a string is skipped. F#9 has x1x152, 4x435x, x7x374, x9x996, 6x697x, 12-x-8-11-9-x, x-11-x-11-11-12, 14-x-14-13-11-x.

Rootless. The root left to the bass player. Frees a finger for a tension. F#9 has x1212x, xx2324, xx6656, xx8999, x-11-11-9-11-x, x-x-11-13-11-12, x-13-14-13-14-x, x1x120.

Open string. 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. F#9 has 040354.

Tensions. A shell of F#9, root, third and seventh, leaves a string free, and the tones that belong over it are the #11 (B#), the b13 (D) and the 13 (D#).

The common shapes and the derived voicings come from different places, and both are explained in where the chords and the theory come from.