C Dominant 7th Sharp Fifth

Symbols:C7#5
Scale Degree Formula:1-3-#5-♭7
Interval Stack:M3 + M3 + M2
Notes:C, E, G#, Bb
Hear this chord:▸ Guitar
Inversions:C7#5/E, C7#5/G#, C7#5/Bb

Construction

Using the scale degree formula, we first start with the C 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, 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 (C), then move our first interval (M3), which brings us to our second note in the chord (E). 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:
C1C#♭2D2D#♭3E3F4F#♭5G5G##5A6Bb♭7M3M3M2

Similar Chords

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

Chord TypeChords
7th Suspended SecondBb7sus2
Added 9thG#add9
AugmentedG#aug, Eaug, Caug
Augmented Major 7thG#+Maj7, E+Maj7, C+Maj7
Dominant 7thC7
Dominant 7th Flat FifthF#7b5, E7b5, C7b5, Bb7b5
Dominant 7th Flat ThirteenthC7b13
Dominant 7th Sharp Five Flat 9thC7#5b9
Dominant 7th Sharp Five Sharp 9thC7#5#9
Dominant 9th Flat FifthF#9b5, Bb9b5
Dominant 9th Sharp FifthG#9#5, C9#5
Half-Diminished 7thBbm7(b5)
Major 2ndG#2
Major 7th Flat FifthEMaj7b5
Minor 6thC#m6
Minor 9th Flat FifthBbm9b5
Minor Added 11thFmadd11
Minor Major 7thFmM7, C#mM7, AmM7

Associated Scales

This chord can be found in the following scales.

ScaleRoots
Dorian b5Bb
Harmonic MajorG#
Harmonic MinorF
Ionian #5G#
Locrian bb7G
Locrian ♮6G
Lydian #9C#
Lydian Augmented #2E
Lydian b3C#
Mixolydian b2D#
Phrygian DominantC
Phrygian b4C
Super-Locrian bb7E
Ukrainian DorianBb

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