G7#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 G7#9 — 2nd inversion
G7#9 is G, B, D, F and A# — G9 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.
G7#9 notes and formula
| G | B | D | F | A# |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | 5 | ♭7 | ♯9 |
Also written G7(#9), G7+9 or G7♯9. The same chord either way; which spelling you meet depends on who wrote the chart.
How to play G7#9
G7#9 in 2nd inversion puts D in the bass instead of G, the 5th 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 G7#9’s 10 common shapes does this:x55466
Play G7#9 as a shell — root, third and seventh — and the spare string takes the #11 (C#), the b13 (Eb) or the 13 (E).
All 10 common shapes as fret numbers, lowest string first. Hover or tap one to see it drawn.
- 320301, open position, G, root position, top note F, 2 open strings
- 3233xx, 2nd fret, G, root position, top note A#, barred
- x23333, 2nd fret, B, 1st inversion, top note G, barred
- 353466, 3rd fret, G, root position, top note A#, all fretted
- 353436, 3rd fret, G, root position, top note A#, barred
- xx5466, 4th fret, G, root position, top note A#, all fretted
- x55466, 4th fret, D, 2nd inversion, top note A#, all fretted
- x-10-9-10-11-x, 9th fret, G, root position, top note A#, all fretted
- x-13-12-12-12-13, 12th fret, A#, 9th in the bass, top note F, barred
- 15-14-15-15-15-15, 14th fret, G, root position, top note G, barred
How to use G7#9
G7#9 is a dominant with its tension raised, so it still points at C — harder than a plain seventh does, because the altered tones sit a semitone from where they are going.
In a phrase:Dm7→G7#9→Cmaj7— the ii–V–I of C.
Voice by voice, G7#9 → C. 2 voices move by a semitone, and one note is common to both chords.
| In G7#9 | Moves | In C |
|---|---|---|
| G, the root | stays where it is | G, the fifth |
| B, the major third | rises a semitone | C, the root |
| D, the fifth | falls a whole tone | C, the root |
| F, the flat seventh | falls a semitone | E, the major third |
| A#, the sharp ninth | rises a whole tone | C, the root |
What to play over G7#9
Every note of G7#9 is in G half-whole diminished.
Chords near G7#9
Change one note of G7#9 and you have Gm7 (drop the major third), Gm9 (the major third becomes the ninth), G7 (drop the sharp ninth), G9 (the sharp ninth becomes the ninth), G7b9 (the sharp ninth becomes the flat ninth) or G/F (drop the sharp ninth).
G7#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.