Bm69 guitar chord
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.
- Tap a note to hear it
- Arrows change position
- Fingers, notes or intervals
- Play the chord
About Bm69 — open string voicings
Bm69 is B, D, F#, G# and C# — Bm6 with the ninth added as well.
It sounds cool and entirely at rest. No seventh, so nothing leans: a common last chord of a minor tune.
Bm69 notes and formula
| B | D | F# | G# | C# |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ♭3 | 5 | 6 | 9 |
Minor tonic — nothing in it is pulling.
Also written Bm6/9, Bmin6/9 or B-6/9. The same chord either way; which spelling you meet depends on who wrote the chart.
How to play Bm69
An open string left ringing against a fretted grip. It costs no finger, so it can sound a note the closed shape has none left for: a tension on top, or a pedal root underneath.
These belong to their key rather than to a shape: they cannot be moved up the neck. D, A, G and E have many; E♭ has a handful.
Bm69 has 5 of them, on strings 6-5-4-3-2-1, strings 5-4-3-2-1, strings 6-4-3-2-1 and the top four strings, from the 3rd fret up to the 5th — every inversion the chord has: B in the bass, D in the bass, G# in the bass and C# in the bass. The one to learn first is the D shape at the 4th fret, which is the easiest grip here.
Start with 7566xx — no barre and low, at the 5th fret. 1 of the 9 shapes here sits in open position. 6 of the 9 need a barre. Together they cover the neck from the 1st fret to the 14th.
| Frets | Where | Bass | Top | Hand |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| x20122 | open position | B, root position | F# | barred |
| 7566xx | 5th fret | B, root position | C# | all fretted |
| x56677 | 5th fret | D, 1st inversion | B | all fretted |
| 7x6779 | 6th fret | B, root position | C# | barred |
| 7x9799 | 7th fret | B, root position | C# | barred |
| xx9799 | 7th fret | B, root position | C# | barred |
| x99799 | 7th fret | F#, 2nd inversion | C# | barred |
| 10-9-9-11-9-9 | 9th fret | D, 1st inversion | C# | barred |
| x-14-12-13-14-x | 12th fret | B, root position | C# | all fretted |
The same notes rebuilt from scratch give 4 shell, 13 drop 2, 8 drop 3 and 13 rootless voicings, each on its own page.
Tensions. A shell of Bm69, root, third and seventh, leaves a string free, and the tones that belong over it are the 11 (E).
How to use Bm69
How you get to it. The turn that lands on Bm69 is C#m7♭5 to F#7♭9: the ii and the V of B minor, which is where a minor tonic is usually arrived at rather than simply begun on.
In which keys. Every note of Bm69 belongs to F# minor (the iv, the subdominant) and A major (the ii, the supertonic).
What to play over Bm69
Every note of Bm69 is in B dorian and B melodic minor.
Chords near Bm69
Change one note of Bm69 and you have Bm6 (drop the ninth), Bm9 (the sixth becomes a flat seventh), BmMaj9 (the sixth becomes a major seventh), Bmadd9 (drop the sixth) or B69 (the minor third becomes a major third).
Bm69 is a minor chord — root, minor third, fifth. Minor chords on every root.
On Bm69’s sound and use this page follows Mark Levine, The Jazz Piano Book (Sher Music, 1989). The shapes and the derived voicings come from different places, and both are explained in where the chords and the theory come from.