E dominant 7th sharp 9 chord

Playing it

On guitar, E7♯9 is one of the friendlier shapes: 020004 needs just two fingers and lets the open strings ring.

On piano, E7♯9 has one black key (G♯) and four white keys. In root position it spans more than an octave, so many pianists play the root with the left hand and the rest with the right.

On ukulele the usual E7♯9 shape is 0242, using three fingers. It leaves out the root, which a bass player (or your ear) fills in.

Related chords

Move a single note and E7♯9 becomes a different chord: drop the F𝄪 for E7, drop the G♯ for Em7, lower F𝄪 to F♯ for E9 and swap G♯ for F♯ for Em9.

Where you’ll hear it

Notice the F𝄪 in E7♯9 (E G♯ B D F𝄪): each note of the chord takes its own letter (E–G–B–D–F), so the augmented 9th has to be written F𝄪 rather than G — the same key on a piano, spelled to fit the chord.