B9 piano chord — the keys, the inversions, the theory
B9 is a ninth chord built from B, D#, F#, A, C#. 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.
B9
B · D# · F# · A · C#
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 B9
Root position
B · D# · F# · A · C# · bass B
Inversion 1
D# · F# · A · B · C# · bass D#
Inversion 2
F# · A · B · C# · D# · bass F#
Inversion 3
A · B · C# · D# · F# · bass A
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 B9
- EV
In E it does this job: I – V – vi – IV
- E
- B9
- C#m
- A