As the tonic (I)B major
Home. The loop leaves B6/9 and keeps coming back to it.
B6/9 Chord: Guitar, Piano and Notes
The B6/9 chord is a six-nine chord built on the root note B. Its notes are B, D♯, F♯, G♯ and C♯.
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
- B · D♯ · F♯ · G♯ · C♯
- Formula
- 1 · 3 · 5 · 6 · 9
- Semitones
- 0 · 4 · 7 · 9 · 14
- Note
- B
- Quality
- Six-Nine
- Symbol
- B6/9
B6/9 on piano
5 notesView:
Switch to the interactive diagram to hear the chord, change voicing and swap finger numbers for note names.
To play B6/9 on piano, place your right hand with your thumb on B, index finger on C♯, middle finger on D♯, ring finger on F♯ and little finger on G♯. Press the keys together and listen for an even sound. On the keyboard D♯, F♯, G♯ and C♯ are black keys and B is white. Practice moving in and out of the chord slowly, then bring in a metronome.
- B1
- C♯9
- D♯3
- F♯5
- G♯6
B6/9 on guitar
View:
Switch to the interactive diagram to hear the chord, change voicing and swap finger numbers for note names.
On guitar, B6/9 is commonly played with the voicing shown above. This one is a barre at fret 1: keep the index finger flat across the strings and curve the others so they don't mute the strings next to them. Don't play string 6.
B · D♯ · F♯ · G♯ · C♯
Try B6/9 on the virtual piano
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B6/9 chord notes
| Degree | Interval | Semitones | Note | Hear |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Root | 0 | B | |
| 3 | Major third | 4 | D♯(D#) | |
| 5 | Perfect fifth | 7 | F♯(F#) | |
| 6 | Major sixth | 9 | G♯(G#) | |
| 9 | Major ninth | 14 | C♯(C#) |
How to use the B6/9 chord
The B6/9 chord is built from a root, a major third, a perfect fifth, a major sixth and a major ninth. Start at the root B and stack the intervals to get the whole chord: B, D♯, F♯, G♯ and C♯. 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.
How B6/9 differs from similar chords
B6/9 adds both the sixth and the ninth to B and leaves out the seventh, which separates it from Bmaj9 and B13. With no seventh and no fourth, none of its notes clash, so nothing in it needs to resolve. Its five notes are the major pentatonic scale stacked into one chord.
Where B6/9 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 B6/9 chord?
- The B6/9 chord contains B, D♯, F♯, G♯ and C♯ (B, D#, F#, G# and C# in plain text).
- Is the B6/9 chord major or minor?
- B6/9 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 B6/9 on piano?
- Place your fingers on B, D♯, F♯, G♯ and C♯ and play them together. The root usually goes to the little finger of the left hand, the upper notes to the right. On the keyboard D♯, F♯, G♯ and C♯ are black keys and B is white.
- How do you play B6/9 on guitar?
- Use the fingering in the diagram above. This one is a barre at fret 1: keep the index finger flat across the strings and curve the others so they don't mute the strings next to them. Don't play string 6.
- What chords work well with B6/9?
- B6/9 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.