Gm9 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 Gm9 — open string voicings
Gm9 is G, Bb, D, F and A — Gm7 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.
Gm9 notes and formula
| G | Bb | D | F | A |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ♭3 | 5 | ♭7 | 9 |
Pre-dominant or minor tonic — an m7’s job with more colour.
Also written Gmin9, G-9 or G minor 9. The same chord either way; which spelling you meet depends on who wrote the chart.
How to play Gm9
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.
Gm9 has 3 of them, on strings 6-4-3-2-1 and strings 5-4-3-2-1, from the 3rd fret up to the 6th — all in one inversion, so the bass note never moves. The one to learn first is the A shape at the 6th fret, which is the easiest grip here.
Start with xx7066 — no barre and 1 open string. 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 14th.
| Frets | Where | Bass | Top | Hand |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 300331 | open position | G, root position | F | barred |
| 31x231 | 1st fret | G, root position | F | all fretted |
| x13233 | 1st fret | Bb, 1st inversion | G | barred |
| 353335 | 3rd fret | G, root position | A | barred |
| xx7066 | 6th fret | A, 9th in the bass | Bb | 1 open string |
| 687786 | 6th fret | Bb, 1st inversion | Bb | all fretted |
| x-10-8-10-10-x | 8th fret | G, root position | A | barred |
| x-12-12-12-11-13 | 11th fret | A, 9th in the bass | F | barred |
| x-x-12-14-11-13 | 11th fret | D, 2nd inversion | F | 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 Gm9, root, third and seventh, leaves a string free, and the tones that belong over it are the 11 (C) and the 13 (E).
How to use Gm9
How you get to it. The turn that lands on Gm9 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 Gm9 belongs to D minor (the iv, the subdominant), F major (the ii, the supertonic), G minor (the i, the tonic) and Bb major (the vi, the submediant).
What to play over Gm9
Every note of Gm9 is in G dorian and G natural minor.
Chords near Gm9
Change one note of Gm9 and you have Gm69 (the flat seventh becomes a sixth), Gm7 (drop the ninth), Gm11 (add the fourth), GmMaj9 (the flat seventh becomes a major seventh), Gmadd9 (drop the flat seventh) or G9 (the minor third becomes a major third).
Gm9 is a minor chord — root, minor third, fifth. Minor chords on every root.
On Gm9’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.