Gm69 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 Gm69 — open string voicings
Gm69 is G, Bb, D, E and A — Gm6 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.
Gm69 notes and formula
| G | Bb | D | E | A |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ♭3 | 5 | 6 | 9 |
Minor tonic — nothing in it is pulling.
Also written Gm6/9, Gmin6/9 or G-6/9. The same chord either way; which spelling you meet depends on who wrote the chart.
How to play Gm69
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.
Gm69 has 4 of them, on strings 5-4-3-2-1, strings 6-5-4-3-2-1, the bottom four strings and the middle four strings, from the 3rd fret up to the 5th — every inversion the chord has: E in the bass and A in the bass. The one to learn first is the E shape at the 3rd fret, which is the easiest grip here.
Start with 310230 — no barre and 2 open strings. 1 of the 9 shapes here sits in open position. 5 of the 9 need a barre. Together they cover the neck from the 1st fret to the 10th.
| Frets | Where | Bass | Top | Hand |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 310230 | open position | G, root position | E | 2 open strings |
| 3122xx | 1st fret | G, root position | A | all fretted |
| x12233 | 1st fret | Bb, 1st inversion | G | all fretted |
| 3x2335 | 2nd fret | G, root position | A | barred |
| 3x5355 | 3rd fret | G, root position | A | barred |
| xx5355 | 3rd fret | G, root position | A | barred |
| x55355 | 3rd fret | D, 2nd inversion | A | barred |
| 655755 | 5th fret | Bb, 1st inversion | A | barred |
| x-10-8-9-10-x | 8th fret | G, root position | A | all fretted |
The same notes rebuilt from scratch give 4 shell, 13 drop 2, 8 drop 3 and 14 rootless voicings, each on its own page.
Tensions. A shell of Gm69, root, third and seventh, leaves a string free, and the tones that belong over it are the 11 (C).
How to use Gm69
How you get to it. The turn that lands on Gm69 is Am7♭5 to D7♭9: the ii and the V of G minor, which is where a minor tonic is usually arrived at rather than simply begun on.
In which keys. Every note of Gm69 belongs to D minor (the iv, the subdominant) and F major (the ii, the supertonic).
What to play over Gm69
Every note of Gm69 is in G dorian and G melodic minor.
Chords near Gm69
Change one note of Gm69 and you have Gm6 (drop the ninth), Gm9 (the sixth becomes a flat seventh), GmMaj9 (the sixth becomes a major seventh), Gmadd9 (drop the sixth) or G69 (the minor third becomes a major third).
Gm69 is a minor chord — root, minor third, fifth. Minor chords on every root.
On Gm69’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.