The Steel Guitar Forum

can anyone tell me how to make a A7 b9 chord on a 10 string Emmons setup pedal steel? Thanks

Play a diminished chord (E, G, Bb or C#) and leave the A to the bass.

Thanks!

If you play strings 5,6,8,9 with the 9th string lowered to C# and the 8th string raised to F, this will be at the open fret a C#7 in a root inversion. So the notes are C#,F, G#, and B. Or 1, 3, 5, 7.
Now if you release the lever on the 9th string so the note is raised to D, you will get a Diminished chord.
By raising the root note we get intervals of a minor 3rd between each chord tone.

We also get a C#7b9. This chord has no root note(C#) but now has a b9 in the bass. So it's a rootless chord.
Now the cool thing is that you can use a Dim chord over a 7th chord as a substitute. Amongst other things.

If you really want the root in there, you can use the 9th string and half pedal the b7.
Open, it would be D7b9 on strings 9, 7, 6, 5 and 4 (or2)

Eb ( E lever or string 2)
C (half A Pedal)
A ( B pedal )
F#
D

Might be a situation where you want all these notes.... 7th fret will yield the A7b9.
Like Ian and Colin are saying, its handy to just think of 7b9 chords as synonyms with dim7 and forget about the root.

Hi Robert, To me, the easiest way to think of a b9 chord on the E9th tuning, is to raise the roots. If someone calls Ray Price's, "For the Good Times" in the key of D, to play A7b9, simply go to the 5th fret and raise strings 4 & 8 a half tone. Any combination of the major grips work along with the 9th string. If you want an upper extension b7 note, lower your 2nd string a half tone. As others have said, no need to play the root as the bass has that covered.

thanks to all