Bb9 piano chord — the keys, the inversions, the theory

Bb9 is a ninth chord built from Bb, D, F, Ab, 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.

Bb9

Bb · D · F · Ab · C

Piano keyboardC4C5

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 Bb9

  • Root position

    Bb · D · F · Ab · C · bass Bb

  • Inversion 1

    D · F · Ab · Bb · C · bass D

  • Inversion 2

    F · Ab · Bb · C · D · bass F

  • Inversion 3

    Ab · Bb · C · D · F · bass Ab

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 Bb9

  • EbV

In Eb it does this job: I – V – vi – IV

  1. Eb
  2. Bb9
  3. Cm
  4. Ab

Questions