F7#9 F dominant seventh sharp nine chord
- Notes
- F A C Eb G#
- Formula
- 1 3 5 b7 #9
- Semitones
- 0 4 7 10 15 above the root
- Other symbols
- F7(#9), F7+9
F to A is a major third (4 semitones), A to C is a minor third (3 semitones), C to Eb is a minor third (3 semitones), Eb to G# is a perfect fourth (5 semitones). A dominant seventh with a raised ninth, G#. On the keyboard G# 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.
F7#9 on the piano
Root position from F4: F4, A4, C5, Eb5, G#5. Middle C is C4.
F7#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 F as its lowest note.
x 8 7 8 9 x (low E to high e)
Sounds F3 A3 Eb4 G#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 F7#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 | F A C Eb G# | F7#9 | |
| 1st inversion | A C Eb G# F | Fm7/A (also read as F7#9/A) | |
| 2nd inversion | C Eb G# F A | F7#9/C | |
| 3rd inversion | Eb G# F A C | F7#9/Eb | |
| 4th inversion | G# F A C Eb | F7/Ab (also read as F7#9/G#) |
Where F7#9 fits
F7#9 has no place among the chords built from a major or minor scale: it holds a major third, A, and the sharp ninth G#, 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.