What notes are in the Gb 9#5 chord?

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

What intervals make up the Gb 9#5 chord?

Measured from Gb, the Gb 9#5 chord stacks the intervals 1P, 3M, 5A, 7m, 9M. 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 Gb 9#5 chord?

On guitar the most common Gb 9#5 shape is 210130, read from the lowest string to the highest; the instrument panel above shows several more with their fingerings. On piano play Gb3 · Bb3 · D4 · Fb4 · Ab4 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.

Gb 9#5 Chord (Gb9#5): 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	Gb3 · Bb3 · D4 · Fb4 · Ab4
Open (drop 2)	Fb3 · Gb3 · Bb3 · D4 · Ab4
Shell	Gb3 · Bb3 · Fb4
Rootless	Bb3 · Fb4 · Ab4

Tap a key or a fret to hear it.

Anatomy

Gb 9#5 (Gb9#5) contains the notes Gb · Bb · D · Fb · Ab, each with a role measured as an interval from the root.

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

Inversions

An inversion of Gb 9#5 puts a chord tone other than Gb in the bass; the name after the slash is that bass note.

Where it lives

The keys and the scales Gb 9#5 belongs to.

In which keys

Gb 9#5 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

Gb 9#5 fits inside these scales, each built on Gb.

Gb Whole ToneGb · Ab · Bb · C · D · E
Gb Leading Whole ToneGb · Ab · Bb · C · D · Fb · F
Gb Messiaen's Mode #6Gb · Ab · Bb · Cb · C · D · E · F

Related chords

Chords that share most of their notes with Gb 9#5: simpler and richer stacks of the same notes, and the substitutes a chart would accept.

Simpler

Gb7#5Gb · Bb · D · Fb
Gb9no5Gb · Bb · Fb · Ab
Gbmaj#5add9Gb · Bb · D · Ab
GbaugGb · Bb · D
Gb7no5Gb · Bb · Fb

Richer

Gb9#5#11Gb · Bb · D · Fb · Ab · C

Common substitutions

C9#5C · E · G# · Bb · D
C9#5 shares the third and seventh of Gb9#5 a tritone away, so it can replace it as a dominant.
Dbm7Db · Fb · Ab · Cb
Dbm7 is the ii chord that leads into Gb9#5 in a ii–V.

9#5 on every root

C9#5 Db9#5 D9#5 Eb9#5 E9#5 F9#5 G9#5 Ab9#5 A9#5 Bb9#5

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Understanding the Gb 9#5 chord

Names and symbols

Gb9#5 is the chord symbol for Gb 9#5; it is also written Gb9+.

7♯5, +7 and aug7 usually all mean this chord: a dominant seventh on an augmented triad. Some books use aug7 for the major seventh on the augmented triad instead, so check which seventh a chart intends.

Common questions

What notes are in the Gb 9#5 chord?: The Gb 9#5 chord contains the notes Gb · Bb · D · Fb · Ab: the root Gb with the intervals 1P, 3M, 5A, 7m, 9M stacked above it. Play them together for the chord or one after another for an arpeggio. The lowest note is normally Gb, but any chord tone can take the bass in an inversion.
What intervals make up the Gb 9#5 chord?: Measured from Gb, the Gb 9#5 chord stacks the intervals 1P, 3M, 5A, 7m, 9M. 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 Gb 9#5 chord?: On guitar the most common Gb 9#5 shape is 210130, read from the lowest string to the highest; the instrument panel above shows several more with their fingerings. On piano play Gb3 · Bb3 · D4 · Fb4 · Ab4 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.