In every key
The same shape, moved. The symbols below are spelled the way the app spells them, which is the spelling the chord's own scale asks for rather than whichever accidental is easier to type.
- C9#5
- Db9#5
- D9#5
- Eb9#5
- E9#5
- F9#5
- F#9#5
- G9#5
- Ab9#5
- A9#5
- Bb9#5
- B9#5
Voicings
Written in C, because that is the key the encyclopedia authors them in; every one transposes unchanged.
Rootless Altered (3-b7-9-#5)
E · Bb · D · G#
advanced
RH 1-2-3-5 on E-Bb-D-G#; the D-G# tritone on top is the whole-tone signature — keep it bright.
Rootless Altered Spread (3-#5-b7-9)
E · G# · Bb · D
advanced
LH 5-3-2-1 on E-G#-Bb-D; feel the even whole-step spacing and let the D top note lead the resolution.
Where it turns up
Whole-tone dominant color resolving up a fourth. Thelonious Monk and Mulgrew Miller use the 9#5 for its bright, suspended-augmented push into the tonic. The natural 9 softens the augmented 5th into a singable whole-tone sound.
Commonly swapped with
- C7#5 (drop 9)
- C9b5 (whole-tone equivalent)
- D7#5/C
- C+7add9