Chord Shapes

Dominant 9th Sharp 5

Intervals: 1-3-#5-b7-9. A 7#5 chord with the added warmth of a 9th. This combines the augmented upward motion of the #5 with the smoothness of the 9th, and is common where the melody or inner voice hits the 9th on a strongly altered dominant. In many contexts players will simply treat this as a variant of V7alt, drawing on the altered or Lydian augmented scales for lines. It works well on secondary dominants in ballads and on the V of a major tonic when you want an almost dreamy lift before resolving.