G Dominant 9th
9
0 - 4 - 7 - 10 - 14Dom7 + major 9th
About G Dominant 9th
G9 is the funk grip transposed to the third fret — G, B, D, F and A, with the fifth usually dropped. It sits where the neck is comfortable and the strings are still tight enough to snap, which is part of why so many rhythm parts in this key use it rather than G7.
The notes
G, B, D, F, A. The F is the flat seventh, the A the ninth. Together they make a chord that pulls toward C without sounding severe about it.
The ninth also removes the plainness that makes G7 sound folk-like: the same function, a different century of music.
The shape
Root on the low E string at the third fret, with a partial barre across the middle strings. The identical grip at the fifth fret is A9, at the eighth C9 — one shape covers every key.
Because nothing is open, the chord relies on right-hand damping for its character. Strummed loosely it sounds muddy; struck and stopped it becomes rhythm.
Where it shows up
As the V of C major in soul and jazz, and as the tonic of a funk vamp in G. In the second role it never resolves — that is the whole point of the idiom.
It also appears in the turnaround of a blues in G, where a plain seventh would sound too rustic after twelve bars of the same three chords.
For a guitarist learning funk, this is usually the first grip taught, because the third fret gives the cleanest string response and the shape transfers to every other key without modification.