As the tonic (I)A major
Home. The loop leaves A6/9 and keeps coming back to it.
A6/9 Chord: Guitar, Piano and Notes
The A6/9 chord is a six-nine chord built on the root note A. Its notes are A, C♯, E, F♯ and B.
Transpose
Quality
Short answer
Six-nine chords sound bright and pleasantly unresolved. A major sixth and a ninth sit on the triad with no seventh at all, so the chord never pulls toward a resolution and can simply sit there, which is why bands often end a song on one.
- Notes
- A · C♯ · E · F♯ · B
- Formula
- 1 · 3 · 5 · 6 · 9
- Semitones
- 0 · 4 · 7 · 9 · 14
- Note
- A
- Quality
- Six-Nine
- Symbol
- A6/9
A6/9 on piano
5 notesView:
Switch to the interactive diagram to hear the chord, change voicing and swap finger numbers for note names.
To play A6/9 on piano, place your right hand with your thumb on A, index finger on C♯, middle finger on E, ring finger on F♯ and little finger on B. Press the keys together and listen for an even sound. Practice moving in and out of the chord slowly, then bring in a metronome.
- A1
- C♯3
- E5
- F♯6
- B9
A6/9 on guitar
View:
Switch to the interactive diagram to hear the chord, change voicing and swap finger numbers for note names.
On guitar, A6/9 is commonly played with the voicing shown above. Strum only the strings marked as active in the diagram.
A6/9 chord notes
| Degree | Interval | Semitones | Note | Hear |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Root | 0 | A | |
| 3 | Major third | 4 | C♯(C#) | |
| 5 | Perfect fifth | 7 | E | |
| 6 | Major sixth | 9 | F♯(F#) | |
| 9 | Major ninth | 14 | B |
How to use the A6/9 chord
The A6/9 chord is built from a root, a major third, a perfect fifth, a major sixth and a major ninth. Start at the root A and stack the intervals to get the whole chord: A, C♯, E, F♯ and B. The same formula gives you the chord in any other key.
Six-nine chords are a favourite ending for jazz standards and pop ballads, taking the place of a plain major or major seventh chord as the final I. They also work as a colourful substitute for a major triad anywhere in a progression.
Where A6/9 is used
A major chord is at home as a tonic, and just as useful as the IV or the V of a neighbouring key. Each progression below is written in the key its numerals name.
Questions people ask
- What notes are in the A6/9 chord?
- The A6/9 chord contains A, C♯, E, F♯ and B (A, C#, E, F# and B in plain text).
- Is the A6/9 chord major or minor?
- A6/9 is a six-nine chord. Six-nine chords sound bright and pleasantly unresolved. A major sixth and a ninth sit on the triad with no seventh at all, so the chord never pulls toward a resolution and can simply sit there, which is why bands often end a song on one.
- How do you play A6/9 on piano?
- Place your fingers on A, C♯, E, F♯ and B and play them together. The root usually goes to the little finger of the left hand, the upper notes to the right.
- How do you play A6/9 on guitar?
- A6/9 is typically played with the fingering shown in the diagram above. If one of the chord tones lines up with an open string, an open position is worth trying too.
- What chords work well with A6/9?
- A6/9 pairs naturally with the chords in the related section: a perfect fifth up or down, the relative major or minor, and anything sharing two notes with it.