D7#9 D dominant seventh sharp nine chord
- Notes
- D F# A C E#
- Formula
- 1 3 5 b7 #9
- Semitones
- 0 4 7 10 15 above the root
- Other symbols
- D7(#9), D7+9
D to F# is a major third (4 semitones), F# to A is a minor third (3 semitones), A to C is a minor third (3 semitones), C to E# is a perfect fourth (5 semitones). A dominant seventh with a raised ninth, E#. On the keyboard E# is the same key as the minor third, so the chord holds both a major and a minor third; it is written as a sharp ninth because it sits above the seventh and the letter names follow the stack of thirds.
D7#9 on the piano
Root position from D4: D4, F#4, A4, C5, E#5. Middle C is C4.
D7#9 on the guitar
Standard tuning (E A D G B E). Strings run low E on the left to high e on the right, frets downwards; × is a muted string, ○ an open string, and each dot shows the note it sounds, with the root in blue-green. Every shape below has D as its lowest note.
x 5 4 5 6 x (low E to high e)
Sounds D3 F#3 C4 E#4, fifth left out
The E-shape and A-shape grips are movable: an E-shape chord's root is the note under your first finger on the low E string, an A-shape chord's root is the note on the A string. Slide the same grip up or down to play dominant seventh sharp nine chords on other roots.
Inversions of D7#9
An inversion puts a note other than the root in the bass. The name is what semicord's chord finder calls those notes played bottom to top; a slash name like C/E means a C chord with E in the bass.
| Position | Notes, bass first | Named | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| Root position | D F# A C E# | D7#9 | |
| 1st inversion | F# A C E# D | Dm7/F# (also read as D7#9/F#) | |
| 2nd inversion | A C E# D F# | D7#9/A | |
| 3rd inversion | C E# D F# A | D7#9/C | |
| 4th inversion | E# D F# A C | D7/F |
Where D7#9 fits
D7#9 has no place among the chords built from a major or minor scale: it holds a major third, F#, and the sharp ninth E#, which sounds the same as the minor third. That major–minor clash is the blues in one chord. It is used as the I chord of a blues or a funk vamp, and as a tense V chord in jazz; Jimi Hendrix's "Purple Haze" made E7#9 famous, which is why guitarists call it the Hendrix chord.