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A 7b9 (A7b9)

Download MIDI
1+3+5+b7+b9
AEGC#Bb
4 4

Notes in A 7b9

A (root)C#EGBb

Inversions

Same notes as A 7b9, with a different chord tone as the lowest note. Useful for smoother movement between chords instead of jumping around the keyboard.

Root position

A in the bass

AEGC#Bb

1st inversion

C# in the bass (A7b9/C#)

EGAC#Bb

2nd inversion

E in the bass (A7b9/E)

EGABbC#

3rd inversion

G in the bass (A7b9/G)

GAEBbC#

4th inversion

Bb in the bass (A7b9/Bb)

AEGBbC#

Open voicings

A close-position chord like A 7b9 can sound cluttered in the middle of the keyboard. Jazz players open it up by dropping one note down an octave, spreading the same notes wider without changing the chord.

Drop 2

G on the bottom

GAEC#Bb

Drop 3

E on the bottom

EAGC#Bb

A 7b9 is built from A, C#, E, G and Bb.

A dominant seventh with a flattened ninth stacked on top, tense and dramatic. It shows up constantly in jazz and in flamenco-adjacent harmony, and it resolves with even more urgency than a plain dominant seventh does.

Related chords

A7A7#9

Difficulty: Advanced. Category: Extended chords. Click any highlighted key on the diagram above, or tab to it and press Enter, to hear that single note. Inversions mark the bass note with a contrasting outline.