Chord of the Day #1: G#7#5#9

Hello. A friend of mine has suggested I start a Guitar Chord of the Day blog, so here it is, my old blog recycled as a Guitar Chord of the Day blog.

Generally, I'll choose voicings that can be expressed as a combination of six single digits and/or X's, representing strings 6 through 1, in that order. For example, here's C major:

X32010

Hopefully that's clear. The chord of the day is G#7#5#9. If you're playing in E or C#- it may come in handy:

4X4500

Jarring, eh? I arranged the Sarah McLaughlin song Hold On (in D♭), and used a bunch of bluesy voicings like this one. I also play it on a capo 5 version of Rain Dogs in F# minor.

Note that this is one note off from a nice euphonic E(add 9)/G# (the same as G#-7#5: 4X4400). The odd note out is the B# on the third string. Why B# and not C, you ask? Because I spelled this as a G#, and B#, not C, is the third degree of a G# major scale. (In equal temperament...) this chord is identical to A♭7#5#9; the only difference being the spelling. I chose to spell it as a G# because that is how it is spelled in the keys of E and C# minor, which are much more common on guitar than D♭ major and minor, where the chord would be spelled as an A♭. In fact, D♭ minor is a theoretical key (8 flats!) that you would almost never see.