C#m9

C#m9 is C#, E, G#, B and D#, a minor ninth. The shape this page opens on is written x4244x, lowest string first.

Note by note. C# is the root, E is the minor third, G# is the fifth, B is the flat seventh and D# is the ninth.

Also written C#min9, C#-9 or C# minor 9. The same chord either way; which spelling you meet depends on who wrote the chart.

There are 7 common shapes for C#m9 on the guitar, and 36 derived voicings in 4 families.

One note away. Change a single note of C#m9 and you have C#m69 (with one note moved), C#m7 (with one note taken away), C#m11 (with one note added), C#mMaj9 (with one note moved), C#madd9 (with one note taken away) or C#9 (with one note moved).

In which keys. Every note of C#m9 belongs to C# minor (the i), E major (the vi), Ab minor (the iv) and B major (the ii).

The common shapes, written lowest string first: x4244x, x66657, xx6857, 97x897, x79899, 9-11-9-9-9-11, 12-14-13-13-14-12.

Under the hand. None of the shapes for C#m9 uses an open string, so every one of them is movable; the lowest sits at the 2nd fret. 4 of the 7 need a barre. Together they cover the neck from the 2nd fret to the 14th.

Shell. Root, third and seventh: the guide tones fix the quality, so the fifth is dropped. That is what leaves a string free, so pick a tension to put on top. C#m9 has x4244x, 9798xx, x-x-11-9-12-11.

Drop 2. A close-position chord with the second voice from the top lowered an octave. Sits on four adjacent strings. C#m9 has x4244x, 9798xx, 0414xx, xx1420, x6965x, xx9859, x-x-11-9-12-11, xx2647.

Drop 3. The third voice from the top lowered an octave. The dropped voice becomes the bass, which is why a string is skipped. C#m9 has 0x142x, x4x440, x6x657, 9x985x, 11-x-11-9-12-x, 7x264x, x-7-x-8-12-9, x-14-x-9-14-11.

Rootless. The root left to the bass player. Frees a finger for a tension. C#m9 has xx1100, xx2444, x6645x, x7989x, x-x-9-9-9-11, x-x-13-13-12-12, x2214x, x2x140.

Tensions. A shell of C#m9, root, third and seventh, leaves a string free, and the tones that belong over it are the 11 (F#) and the 13 (A#).

What kind of chord this is. C#m9 is a minor chord — root, minor third, fifth. minor chords on every root, and what they are for.

The common shapes and the derived voicings come from different places, and both are explained in where the chords and the theory come from.