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Db 7b9 (Db7b9)

Also written as C# 7b9 (C# and Db are the same key).

Download MIDI
1+3+5+b7+b9
E#BDC#G#
4 4

Notes in Db 7b9

C# (root)E#G#BD

Inversions

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

Root position

C# in the bass

E#BDC#G#

1st inversion

E# in the bass (Db7b9/E#)

E#BDG#C#

2nd inversion

G# in the bass (Db7b9/G#)

BDE#G#C#

3rd inversion

B in the bass (Db7b9/B)

BDE#C#G#

4th inversion

D in the bass (Db7b9/D)

DE#BC#G#

Open voicings

A close-position chord like Db 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

B on the bottom

BE#DC#G#

Drop 3

G# on the bottom

E#BDG#C#

Press C#, E#, G#, B and D together on the keyboard and you're playing Db 7b9.

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

Db7Db7#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.