Chord Colors

A sharp minor nine chord

Inversions

2fr 4fr 6fr 11fr

(root position)

Notes and intervals

1 A sharp Root
2 C sharp Minor 3rd
3 E sharp Perfect 5th
4 G sharp Minor 7th
5 B sharp Major 9th

About the A sharp minor nine chord

The A sharp minor nine chord is a A sharp minor ninth built from A sharp, C sharp, E sharp, G sharp, B sharp. It sits outside the plain diatonic set, so it is borrowed to add color and tension. Tap the keys or frets above to hear each note, or press Play chord to hear them together.

It is also written B flat minor nine , which spells the same notes enharmonically.

Other A sharp chords

Simpler triads

A sharp A sharp minor A sharp diminished A sharp augmented

Suspended

A sharp suspended two A sharp suspended four A sharp seven suspended four

Sixths and sevenths

A sharp six A sharp minor six A sharp seven A sharp major seven A sharp minor seven A sharp minor seven flat five A sharp diminished seven A sharp minor major seven

Extensions

A sharp nine A sharp add nine A sharp major nine A sharp eleven A sharp thirteen A sharp six over nine A sharp minor add nine

Altered

A sharp seven sharp five

Functional relationships

These chords are where this one most naturally comes from and resolves to inside a key.

Relative major C sharp

The relative major uses the same notes and key signature, so it works as a brighter home base.

Parallel major A sharp

The parallel major keeps the same root note but raises the third, giving the same key a brighter, happier sound.

Dominant F

The dominant is a fifth above the root, and it builds tension that pulls strongly back to this chord.

Subdominant D sharp minor

The subdominant is a fourth above the root (a fifth below), and it usually leads on to the dominant or back home.

Tritone substitution B seven

The tritone substitution stands in for this chord's dominant with a dominant seventh a half step above the root, which slides down by a half step to resolve here.

What do the colors mean?

Every note has its own fixed color, laid out around the circle of fifths. Once you know the colors, chords and scales turn into patterns you can recognize at a glance.

There is so much more to explore

Play any chord or scale, transpose it, and watch it move around the color wheel in the free Chord Colors app.

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