How to Play a D Dominant 7 Flat 9 Chord on Guitar

So you want to add the flat 9 to an otherwise simple dominant 7 chord. The fretboard pattern for the D dominant 7 flat 9 chord is movable, meaning you can retain the shape of the fingering as you move up and down the guitar neck. The fingering for this chord is a little contorted but with some practice you should be able to fret the notes cleanly.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Guitar

1. Fret the D on the A string of the guitar. The D is found at the fifth fret of the fifth string. You will want to use your middle finger for this note, and you should have a decent arch to the finger so that you can sound the other strings without damping them.

2. Use your index finger to barre all of the notes at the fourth fret of the D, G, B and E strings of the guitar. The two most important notes to sound are the F# on the D string and the E flat on the B string. These two notes are the major third and the flat ninth of the D major scale.

3. Fret the C on the G string with your ring finger. This note is found at the fifth fret of the third string. Make sure your finger is arched so that the B string can cleanly sound when strummed.

4. Use your pinkie to fret the A on the high E string. This note is found at the fifth fret of the first string. This note is the fifth note of the D major scale.

5. Strum the chord, being careful to arch your middle, ring and pinkie fingers so that the barred notes fretted by the index fingers sound clearly.

Tips & Warnings

• The dominant 7 flat 9 chord has an off-kilter jazzy feel. The chord is created from the major scale and is most closely related to the Phrygian mode of the major scale. The natural third used in this chord fingering prevents the chord from being truly minor, but the dominant seventh prevents the chord from being entirely major. The ambiguity of tone can be used to bridge together a tune that alternates between a major and minor tonality.
• To generate variations on the chord, try playing the chord intervals in pairs.
• Technically, the chord presented here is an inverted fifth dominant 7 flat 9. An inverted chord places one of the intervals in the chord out of order, in this case the fifth above the seventh and ninth.
• If your guitar is tuned to a non standard tuning, the intervals and sounding pitches of fretted chords change dramatically.