Ab9 piano chord — the keys, the inversions, the theory
Ab9 is a ninth chord built from Ab, C, Eb, Gb, Bb. Below: the keys to press, every inversion with its own diagram, the intervals it is made of, the keys whose scale contains it, and a progression that actually uses it. Press any diagram to hear it.
Ab9
Ab · C · Eb · Gb · Bb
Semitones above the root: 0 – 4 – 7 – 10 – 14
A major third with a flattened seventh above it: unstable on purpose, and it wants to resolve a fourth up.
Inversions of Ab9
Root position
Ab · C · Eb · Gb · Bb · bass Ab
Inversion 1
C · Eb · Gb · Ab · Bb · bass C
Inversion 2
Eb · Gb · Ab · Bb · C · bass Eb
Inversion 3
Gb · Ab · Bb · C · Eb · bass Gb
Same chord, different note at the bottom. Press a diagram to hear it — inversions are how you move between chords without jumping your hand across the keyboard.
Keys that contain Ab9
- DbV
In Db it does this job: I – V – vi – IV
- Db
- Ab9
- Bbm
- Gb