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The F#9 chord

Hear the F#9 and you hear the colour a blues turnaround loves, courtesy of the dominant ninth spelling (F# - A# - C# - E - G#). Players use it to land a hard cadence, which is why it turns up across blues, jazz and any song that needs a strong pull to the next chord. Common voicings on guitar and piano, the theory in plain language, the progressions where the chord earns its place, and a list of real song references are all in the sections that follow.

Hear the F#9 in the chord builder →

Voicings for F#9

Common ways to grip the F#9 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 F#9 across the neck. Pick the shape closest to where your hand already sits.

Guitar: E9 shape at fr.2

Notes: F# - A# - C# - E - G# (chord tones)

Guitar: 9th shape at fr.8

Notes: F# - A# - C# - E - G# (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.3

Notes: top-string triad, fr.3

Triad: top strings (G-B-e) · fr.6

Notes: top-string triad, fr.6

Triad: top strings (G-B-e) · fr.11

Notes: top-string triad, fr.11

Triad: middle strings (D-G-B) · fr.3

Notes: middle-string triad, fr.3

Triad: middle strings (D-G-B) · fr.8

Notes: middle-string triad, fr.8

Triad: middle strings (D-G-B) · fr.11

Notes: middle-string triad, fr.11

Triad: bass strings (A-D-G) · fr.1

Notes: bass-side triad, fr.1

Triad: bass strings (A-D-G) · fr.3

Notes: bass-side triad, fr.3

Triad: bass strings (A-D-G) · fr.8

Notes: bass-side triad, fr.8

Piano voicings

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

Piano: root position

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

Piano: first inversion

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

Piano: second inversion

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

Piano: third inversion

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

The theory behind F#9

F#9 is a dominant ninth built on F#. Its three or four notes (F# - A# - C# - E - G#) sit a specific distance apart: root, major third, perfect fifth, minor seventh and major ninth. That makes it a passing chord in the key of a closely related major key, and the same chord works as the passing chord in a closely related major key. The simplest rule of thumb: the F#9 wants to resolve down a fifth to the next chord.

Progressions that use F#9

Short progressions that put the F#9 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

F#9 (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 F#9

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 F#9 in the songwriting circle, the natural neighbours when you want a substitution.

TriadF# DomF#7 Maj7F#maj7 m7F#m7 NeighbourC#m NeighbourB NeighbourBm NeighbourB7

Keys where F#9 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 F#9 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 F#9 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 F#9. For interactive playback, voice-leading hints and substitution suggestions, open the chord builder above.