C7b9#9: guitar chord voicings, inversions, scales and arpeggios

C7b9#9 (7b9#9) is an interactive GuitarArcanum page with chord formula, intervals, voicings, inversions, triads, pentatonic patterns, scales and arpeggios on the fretboard.

Chord formula

Interval formula: 1 3 5 b7 b9 #9. A dominant with both a flat 9th and a sharp 9th — the most tense altered dominant, played without the 5th.

Chord tones

The 3rd–b7 tritone gives the pull, and both 9ths at once — b9 and #9 — pack the chord with tension. Both are characteristic, so the 5th goes first, and often the root too.

Sound character

Dense, hard and anxious — the extreme end of the altered dominant, heard in dense bebop and modern jazz.

Harmonic function

An altered dominant. It pulls hard toward resolution, especially into minor.

Typical progressions

  • G7b9#9 → Cm
  • Dm7b5 – G7b9#9 – Cm
  • G7b9#9 → C

Guitar voicing advice

Drop the 5th right away. The root is often left to the bass while the guitar takes 3, b7 and both 9ths, kept close together on top.

Compatible scales for C7b9#9

Other chord qualities on the C root

Compare this chord with other qualities sharing the same root.