Chord

Dominant 9

  • 9
  • dom9
Space plays and stops
Notes and intervals
CM3Em3Gm3BbM3D
Extends
Dominant 7

C Dominant 9, written C9, is built from C, E, G, Bb and D: the root, major 3rd, 5th, minor 7th and 9th.

Its 3rd and 7th, E and Bb, are its guide tones: they say what kind of chord it is, so voicings are built around them and the root is often left to the bass. Gb7, a tritone away, has the same two notes the other way up, so it can stand in for C9 as its tritone substitute.

Scales that fit

  1. Mode of Major

    C Mixolydian

  2. Mode of Dominant Bebop

    C Dominant Bebop

    The dominant bebop scale adds a major 7th passing tone to the Mixolydian mode, so that ...

  3. Mode of Melodic Minor

    C Lydian Dominant

Voicings All 8