B Dominant 9th Flat Fifth

Symbols:B9b5
Scale Degree Formula:1-3-♭5-♭7-9
Interval Stack:M3 + M2 + M3 + M3
Notes:B, D#, F, A, C#
Hear this chord:▸ Guitar

Construction

Using the scale degree formula, we first start with the B major scale, and number each note in the scale starting from 1 - these are the scale degrees. Next, we use the scale degree formula, in this case 1-3-♭5-♭7-9, to select notes from our enumerated scale. When a chord requires notes that are not in the scale, this is indicated with a flat (♭) or a sharp (#) along with the scale degree; a ♭3, for instance, would be one half-step down from the 3rd scale degree.
Alternatively, we can use the interval stack to construct our chord. With this approach, we first start with the lowest note of the chord (B), then move our first interval (M3), which brings us to our second note in the chord (D#). We repeatedly apply each of the remaining intervals in the stack to get the full list of notes for our chord.
The diagram below shows how both the scale degree formula and interval stack methods result in the same selection of notes:
B1C♭2C#2D♭3D#3E4F♭5F#5G#5G#6A♭7Bb7B8C♭9C#9M3M2M3M3

Similar Chords

The following chords are similar to this chord and may be a suitable replacement in certain scenarios.

Chord TypeChords
Dominant 7th Flat FifthF7b5, B7b5
Dominant 7th Flat Five Flat 9thF7b5b9, B7b5b9
Dominant 7th Flat ThirteenthF7b13, C#7b13
Dominant 7th Sharp FifthF7#5, C#7#5
Dominant 7th Sharp Five Flat 9thF7#5b9, C#7#5b9
Dominant 7th Sharp Five Sharp 9thF7#5#9, C#7#5#9
Dominant 9thC#9, B9
Dominant 9th Flat ThirteenthC#9b13
Dominant 9th Sharp FifthG9#5, F9#5, D#9#5, C#9#5, B9#5, A9#5
Major 9th Flat FifthBMaj9b5, AMaj9b5
Minor 9th Flat FifthD#m9b5, Bm9b5

Associated Scales

This chord can be found in the following scales.

ScaleRoots

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