What notes are in the Bb 13b9 chord?

The Bb 13b9 chord contains the notes Bb · D · F · Ab · Cb · G: the root Bb with the intervals 1P, 3M, 5P, 7m, 9m, 13M stacked above it. Play them together for the chord or one after another for an arpeggio. The lowest note is normally Bb, but any chord tone can take the bass in an inversion.

What intervals make up the Bb 13b9 chord?

Measured from Bb, the Bb 13b9 chord stacks the intervals 1P, 3M, 5P, 7m, 9m, 13M. The quality of the third and of the seventh, if there is one, is what gives the chord its character; the rest of the notes colour it. Every interval in the formula links to its own page, with its sound.

How do I play the Bb 13b9 chord?

On guitar the most common Bb 13b9 shape is x10004, read from the lowest string to the highest; the instrument panel above shows several more with their fingerings. On piano play Bb3 · D4 · F4 · Ab4 · Cb4 · G5 with the right hand, or move the root down into the left hand and keep the rest above it. Every shape on this page plays when you press it.

Bb 13b9 Chord (Bb13b9): Notes, Piano & Guitar

Play it on your instrument

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Voicings on the piano

Voicing	Notes	Play it on your instrument
Closed, root position	Bb3 · D4 · F4 · Ab4 · Cb4 · G5
Open (drop 2)	Cb3 · Bb3 · D4 · F4 · Ab4 · G5
Shell	Bb3 · D4 · Ab4
Rootless	D3 · Ab3 · Cb3 · G4

Tap a key or a fret to hear it.

Anatomy

Bb 13b9 (Bb13b9) contains the notes Bb · D · F · Ab · Cb · G, each with a role measured as an interval from the root.

Read on: how triads are built · seventh chords · extensions

Inversions

An inversion of Bb 13b9 puts a chord tone other than Bb in the bass; the name after the slash is that bass note.

Where it lives

The keys and the scales Bb 13b9 belongs to.

In which keys

Bb 13b9 is not diatonic to any major or minor key: at least one of its notes lies outside every one of them.

Scales that contain it

Bb 13b9 fits inside these scales, each built on Bb.

Bb Half-Whole DiminishedBb · Cb · Db · D · E · F · G · Ab

Related chords

Chords that share most of their notes with Bb 13b9: simpler and richer stacks of the same notes, and the substitutes a chart would accept.

Simpler

Bb7b9Bb · D · F · Ab · Cb
Bb7add6Bb · D · F · Ab · G
Bb7Bb · D · F · Ab
Bb6Bb · D · F · G
Bbalt7Bb · D · Ab · Cb
Bbmajaddb9Bb · D · F · Cb
BbBb · D · F
Bb7no5Bb · D · Ab
Bb5Bb · F

Richer

Bb13b9#11Bb · D · F · Ab · Cb · E · G

Common substitutions

E13b9E · G# · B · D · F · C#
E13b9 shares the third and seventh of Bb13b9 a tritone away, so it can replace it as a dominant.
Fm7F · Ab · C · Eb
Fm7 is the ii chord that leads into Bb13b9 in a ii–V.

13b9 on every root

C13b9 C#13b9 D13b9 Eb13b9 E13b9 F13b9 F#13b9 G13b9 G#13b9 A13b9 B13b9

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Understanding the Bb 13b9 chord

Names and symbols

Bb13b9 is the chord symbol for Bb 13b9.

Common questions

What notes are in the Bb 13b9 chord?: The Bb 13b9 chord contains the notes Bb · D · F · Ab · Cb · G: the root Bb with the intervals 1P, 3M, 5P, 7m, 9m, 13M stacked above it. Play them together for the chord or one after another for an arpeggio. The lowest note is normally Bb, but any chord tone can take the bass in an inversion.
What intervals make up the Bb 13b9 chord?: Measured from Bb, the Bb 13b9 chord stacks the intervals 1P, 3M, 5P, 7m, 9m, 13M. The quality of the third and of the seventh, if there is one, is what gives the chord its character; the rest of the notes colour it. Every interval in the formula links to its own page, with its sound.
How do I play the Bb 13b9 chord?: On guitar the most common Bb 13b9 shape is x10004, read from the lowest string to the highest; the instrument panel above shows several more with their fingerings. On piano play Bb3 · D4 · F4 · Ab4 · Cb4 · G5 with the right hand, or move the root down into the left hand and keep the rest above it. Every shape on this page plays when you press it.