Em9 is E, G, B, D and F#. It keeps every note of and adds the .
In a ii–V, use Em9 in place of when you want the 9th included.
Unlike , Em9 keeps the already found in .
To hear the 9th, compare with Em9.
One repeated root rises two frets to the 9th. Every other note stays the same.
Also written Emin9, E-9 or E minor 9.
Em9 in 3rd inversion puts D in the bass instead of E, the 7th of the chord. The notes are the same; what changes is what the bass line does, which is most of why you would reach for it — it lets the lowest voice move by step where the root would have jumped.
One of Em9’s 18 shapes does this:x-x-12-12-12-14
Jazz players rarely leave a ii–V–I as bare sevenths: Em9, A13, Dmaj9. The ninth on top of the ii is already the V’s thirteenth, so it holds over the barline before falling a step to the ninth of the I.
Listen for: The ninth holds as the V’s thirteenth, then falls a whole step. On the plain m7 that string starts on the root and has to climb.
Leave the root off Em9 and the four notes left are Gmaj7. So the I can turn into the vi without moving a finger above the bass, a tonic swap jazz players make freely.
Listen for: Nothing above moves. A bass note arrives a minor third below the I’s root, and the chord is minor.
In which keys. Every note of Em9 belongs to D major, E minor, G major and B minor.
Contains Em9 and adds eleventh and flat thirteenth.
Contains Em9 and adds eleventh and thirteenth.
The common shapes and the derived voicings come from different places, and both are explained in how this site is built.
Shows each chord the way this style would voice it, and marks which of its alternatives belong to the idiom.