CHORD REFERENCE

A7♭9

A – C♯ – E – G – B♭1 3 5 b7 b9

The A 7♭9 chord and everything around it — the notes and how they are built, the shape on piano and guitar, the sound, and the keys it belongs to.

Notes
A1C♯3E5Gb7B♭b9

A7♭9 is A, C#, E, G, Bb — the 1, 3, 5, b7 and b9 above the root A.

Piano
AEGC♯B♭
Guitar

Guitar — every position (frets 0–12)

357912eEGAB♭C♯EBC♯EGAB♭GGAB♭C♯EGDEGAB♭C♯AAB♭C♯EGAEEGAB♭C♯E

Root notes are red. There is no standard open shape for this chord — any group of these notes on the neck sounds the chord.

Ukulele (standard G–C–E–A)

357912AAB♭C♯EGAEEGAB♭C♯ECC♯EGAB♭GGAB♭C♯EG

Every position of the chord tones on the ukulele neck — any group that sounds only A, C#, E, G, Bb plays the chord.

In which keys

A7♭9 is a colour chord — it is not diatonic to a plain major or minor key, which is what gives it its character. It shows up as a borrowed chord, an altered dominant, or a passing sound.

Other A chords

Triads

AMajorAmMinorA5Power Chord (5)AdimDiminishedAaugAugmentedAsus2Suspended 2ndAsus4Suspended 4th

Sixths & sevenths

A6Major 6thAm6Minor 6thA7Dominant 7thAmaj7Major 7thAm7Minor 7thAm(maj7)Minor–Major 7thAdim7Diminished 7thAm7♭5Half-Diminished (m7♭5)A7sus47sus4

Altered dominants

A7♭57♭5A7♯57♯5 (Augmented 7th)A7♯97♯9 (Hendrix Chord)

Extended & added

Aadd9Added 9thA6/96/9A9Dominant 9thAmaj9Major 9thAm9Minor 9thA11Dominant 11thA13Dominant 13th
7♭9 on another root
CC♯DE♭EFF♯GG♯AB♭B
Keep exploring

Work out the chords of a whole key with the Scale & Chord Finder, name a chord from its notes with the Chord Identifier, or browse every chord tool. The theory behind how chords are built is in the free Cloud Atelier music guides.