Am69

Am69 is A, C, E, F# and B, a minor six-nine. The shape this page opens on is written x04500, lowest string first.

Also written Am6/9, Amin6/9 or A-6/9. The same chord either way; which spelling you meet depends on who wrote the chart.

There are 10 common shapes for Am69 on the guitar, and 42 derived voicings in 5 families.

In which keys. Every note of Am69 belongs to E minor (the iv) and G major (the ii).

The common shapes, written lowest string first: x04500, 5344xx, x34455, 5x4557, 5x7577, xx7577, x77577, 807977, 877977, x-12-10-11-12-x.

Shell. Root, third and seventh: the guide tones fix the quality, so the fifth is dropped. That is what leaves a string free, so pick a tension to put on top. Am69 has 5344xx, xx7577, x-12-10-11-12-x.

Drop 2. A close-position chord with the second voice from the top lowered an octave. Sits on four adjacent strings. Am69 has 5344xx, xx7577, x-12-10-11-12-x, x2421x, xx4415, x3747x, 7975xx, 8-12-9-11-x-x.

Drop 3. The third voice from the top lowered an octave. The dropped voice becomes the bass, which is why a string is skipped. Am69 has x2x212, 5x441x, x3x475, 7x757x, x-12-x-11-12-8, 8-x-9-11-10-x, 14-x-10-14-12-x, x-14-x-14-13-14.

Rootless. The root left to the bass player. Frees a finger for a tension. Am69 has x3445x, xx9978, x-x-10-11-12-12, xx2412, x3x452, xx4557, x7x577, x7957x.

Open string. An open string left ringing against a fretted grip. Because it costs no finger, it sounds a note the closed shape has none left for -- a tension on top, or a pedal root underneath. Either a familiar grip with open strings added, or a shape so sparse the open strings carry the chord. These belong to their key rather than to a shape, so D, A, G and E have many and Eb a handful. Am69 has 070577, 534400, x04557, 007577, 7x7570, 200500.

Tensions. A shell of Am69, root, third and seventh, leaves a string free, and the tones that belong over it are the 11 (D).

The common shapes and the derived voicings come from different places, and both are explained in where the chords and the theory come from.