G9 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 G9 — 1st inversion
G9 is G, B, D, F and A — G7 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.
Dominant — the same pull as a 7, with more colour.
G9 notes and formula
| G | B | D | F | A |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | 5 | ♭7 | 9 |
Also written Gdom9 or G dominant 9. The same chord either way; which spelling you meet depends on who wrote the chart.
How to play G9
G9 in 1st inversion puts B in the bass instead of G, the 3rd 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 G9’s 10 common shapes does this:7x5765
Play G9 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.
- 300001, open position, G, root position, top note F, 4 open strings
- 3232xx, 2nd fret, G, root position, top note A, all fretted
- 353235, 2nd fret, G, root position, top note A, barred
- 353435, 3rd fret, G, root position, top note A, barred
- xx5465, 4th fret, G, root position, top note A, all fretted
- 7x5765, 5th fret, B, 1st inversion, top note A, all fretted
- x-10-9-10-10-10, 9th fret, G, root position, top note D, barred
- x-12-12-12-12-13, 12th fret, A, 9th in the bass, top note F, barred
- 15-12-12-14-12-13, 12th fret, G, root position, top note F, barred
- 15-14-15-14-15-x, 14th fret, G, root position, top note D, barred
How to use G9
G9 is the V of C, 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 C.
In a phrase:Dm7→G9→Cmaj7— the ii–V–I of C.
Voice by voice, G9 → C. 2 voices move by a semitone, and one note is common to both chords.
| In G9 | 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 ninth | falls a whole tone | G, the fifth |
In which keys. Every note of G9 belongs to C major (the V, the dominant) and A minor (the ♭VII).
What to play over G9
Every note of G9 is in G mixolydian and G lydian dominant.
Chords near G9
Change one note of G9 and you have Gmaj9 (the flat seventh becomes the major seventh), Gm9 (the major third becomes the minor third), Gadd9 (drop the flat seventh), G69 (the flat seventh becomes the sixth), G7 (drop the ninth) or G9b5 (the fifth becomes the flat fifth).
G9 is a dominant chord — root, major third, fifth, minor seventh. Dominant seventh 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.