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The B9 chord

Start with the recipe. The notes are B - D# - F# - A - C#, a dominant ninth, otherwise known as the B9. The chord feels the soul and funk dominant, which is why writers chasing a blues feel keep landing on it. You will find it inside blues, jazz and any song that needs a strong pull to the next chord. The rest of this page lays out the common voicings, the interval theory, the progressions where the chord fits, and the records that lean on it for structural work.

Hear the B9 in the chord builder →

Voicings for B9

Common ways to grip the B9 on guitar and piano. Guitar diagrams read low E to high E left-to-right; an × means muted, an open circle above the nut means an open string. Filled dots are fretted notes.

Guitar , full chord shapes

CAGED-derived voicings for B9 across the neck. Pick the shape closest to where your hand already sits.

Guitar: E9 shape at fr.7

Notes: B - D# - F# - A - C# (chord tones)

Guitar: 9th shape at fr.13

Notes: B - D# - F# - A - C# (chord tones)

Guitar , triad shapes

Three-note triad shapes on each string set, shown moving up the neck. Light textures for arpeggios, pop layering and chord-melody work.

Triad: top strings (G-B-e) · fr.4

Notes: top-string triad, fr.4

Triad: top strings (G-B-e) · fr.8

Notes: top-string triad, fr.8

Triad: top strings (G-B-e) · fr.11

Notes: top-string triad, fr.11

Triad: middle strings (D-G-B) · fr.1

Notes: middle-string triad, fr.1

Triad: middle strings (D-G-B) · fr.4

Notes: middle-string triad, fr.4

Triad: middle strings (D-G-B) · fr.8

Notes: middle-string triad, fr.8

Triad: bass strings (A-D-G) · fr.1

Notes: bass-side triad, fr.1

Triad: bass strings (A-D-G) · fr.4

Notes: bass-side triad, fr.4

Triad: bass strings (A-D-G) · fr.6

Notes: bass-side triad, fr.6

Piano voicings

Root position and inversions. The bass note matters: each inversion changes how the chord sits under a melody.

Piano: root position

Notes: B - D# - F# - A - C#. Root B at the bottom. The classic stacked-thirds spelling of a dominant ninth.

Piano: first inversion

Notes: D# - F# - A - C# - B. D# at the bottom. Common in chord-melody, walking bass lines and gentler voicings.

Piano: second inversion

Notes: F# - A - C# - B - D#. F# at the bottom. A floating, suspended feel often used in hymns and ballads.

Piano: third inversion

Notes: A - C# - B - D# - F#. A at the bottom. The seventh in the bass , a smooth jazz favourite.

The theory behind B9

The B9 chord (B - D# - F# - A - C#) is a dominant ninth. Its intervals are root, major third, perfect fifth, minor seventh and major ninth. Functionally it lives at home in a closely related major key as the passing chord, but you'll also find it in a closely related major key as the passing chord. The chord tends to resolve down a fifth to the next chord, which is why it shows up in funk, soul, blues and jazz.

Progressions that use B9

Short progressions that put the B9 to work. Each one is shown in a different key so you can pick the one that suits your singer.

I→IV→V key of C major

B9 (as passing colour)

This chord appears as a borrowed or passing chord in many major-key progressions.

→ Build this in the chord builder

Songs that feature B9

Real records where this chord does structural work. No lyrics quoted, just the title and artist so you can pull up a copy and hear it in context.

Related chords

Chords a step away from the B9 in the songwriting circle, the natural neighbours when you want a substitution.

TriadB DomB7 Maj7Bmaj7 m7Bm7 NeighbourF# NeighbourF#m NeighbourF#7 NeighbourE

Keys where B9 lives

The keys where this chord turns up diatonically. Open any key page for the full set of progressions that lean on it.

C major A minor

Related references

Other ways to put the B9 to work across the reference library.

Arpeggiooutline it with arpeggios

More songwriting tools

Got the chord but still wrestling with the lyric? Find the right rhyme in RhymeForge, or break a writer's block with the unexpected word-pair generator in CollisionLab. Need to map a full progression? The chord builder on the home page is where the B9 fits into context. All free, no signup.

About the chord builder

The Undercover Zest chord progression builder is a free interactive tool that maps every diatonic and borrowed chord in every key. Click a Roman numeral to hear it, drag chords into a progression, then audition voicings, inversions and tensions until the song clicks.

This page is a static reference for the B9. For interactive playback, voice-leading hints and substitution suggestions, open the chord builder above.