Fm9 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 Fm9 — open string voicings
Fm9 is F, Ab, C, Eb and G — Fm7 with the ninth stacked above it.
It sounds warm, and considerably richer than an m7. The standard voicing for a ii chord once the plain one has been played enough.
Fm9 notes and formula
| F | Ab | C | Eb | G |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ♭3 | 5 | ♭7 | 9 |
Pre-dominant or minor tonic — an m7’s job with more colour.
Also written Fmin9, F-9 or F minor 9. The same chord either way; which spelling you meet depends on who wrote the chart.
How to play Fm9
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.
Fm9 has 1 of them, only on the bottom four strings, all of them at the 4th fret — all in one inversion, so the bass note never moves. The one to learn first is the Ab shape at the 4th fret, which is the easiest grip here.
Start with x33044 — no barre and 1 open string. 1 of the 10 shapes here sits in open position. 6 of the 10 need a barre. Together they cover the neck from the 1st fret to the 15th.
| Frets | Where | Bass | Top | Hand |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 131113 | 1st fret | F, root position | G | barred |
| x33044 | open position | C, 2nd inversion | Ab | 1 open string |
| 465564 | 4th fret | Ab, 1st inversion | Ab | all fretted |
| x8688x | 6th fret | F, root position | G | barred |
| x-10-10-10-9-11 | 9th fret | G, 9th in the bass | Eb | barred |
| x-x-10-12-9-11 | 9th fret | C, 2nd inversion | Eb | all fretted |
| 13-11-13-0-13-13 | 11th fret | F, root position | F | barred |
| 13-11-x-12-13-11 | 11th fret | F, root position | Eb | all fretted |
| x-11-13-12-13-13 | 11th fret | Ab, 1st inversion | F | barred |
| 13-15-13-13-13-15 | 13th fret | F, root position | G | barred |
The same notes rebuilt from scratch give 3 shell, 11 drop 2, 7 drop 3 and 13 rootless voicings, each on its own page.
Tensions. A shell of Fm9, root, third and seventh, leaves a string free, and the tones that belong over it are the 11 (Bb) and the 13 (D).
How to use Fm9
How you get to it. The turn that lands on Fm9 is Gm7♭5 to C7♭9: the ii and the V of F minor, which is where a minor tonic is usually arrived at rather than simply begun on.
In which keys. Every note of Fm9 belongs to C minor (the iv, the subdominant), Eb major (the ii, the supertonic), F minor (the i, the tonic) and Ab major (the vi, the submediant).
What to play over Fm9
Every note of Fm9 is in F dorian and F natural minor.
Chords near Fm9
Change one note of Fm9 and you have Fm69 (the flat seventh becomes a sixth), Fm7 (drop the ninth), Fm11 (add the fourth), FmMaj9 (the flat seventh becomes a major seventh), Fmadd9 (drop the flat seventh) or F9 (the minor third becomes a major third).
Fm9 is a minor chord — root, minor third, fifth. Minor chords on every root.
On Fm9’s sound and use this page follows Mark Levine, The Jazz Theory Book (Sher Music, 1995). The shapes and the derived voicings come from different places, and both are explained in where the chords and the theory come from.