Ebm9

Ebm9 is Eb, Gb, Bb, Db and F, a minor ninth. The shape this page opens on is written 243342, lowest string first.

Note by note. Eb is the root, Gb is the minor third, Bb is the fifth, Db is the flat seventh and F is the ninth.

Also written Ebmin9, Eb-9 or Eb minor 9. The same chord either way; which spelling you meet depends on who wrote the chart.

There are 7 common shapes for Ebm9 on the guitar, and 33 derived voicings in 4 families.

One note away. Change a single note of Ebm9 and you have Ebm69 (with one note moved), Ebm7 (with one note taken away), Ebm11 (with one note added), EbmMaj9 (with one note moved), Ebmadd9 (with one note taken away) or Eb9 (with one note moved).

In which keys. Every note of Ebm9 belongs to C# major (the ii), Eb minor (the i), F# major (the vi) and Bb minor (the iv).

The common shapes, written lowest string first: 243342, x6466x, x88879, x-x-8-10-7-9, 11-9-x-10-11-9, x-9-11-10-11-11, 11-13-11-11-11-13.

Under the hand. None of the shapes for Ebm9 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 13th.

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. Ebm9 has x6466x, 11-9-11-10-x-x, x-x-13-11-14-13.

Drop 2. A close-position chord with the second voice from the top lowered an octave. Sits on four adjacent strings. Ebm9 has x6466x, 11-9-11-10-x-x, 2636xx, xx3642, x-8-11-8-7-x, x-x-11-10-7-11, x-x-13-11-14-13, xx4869.

Drop 3. The third voice from the top lowered an octave. The dropped voice becomes the bass, which is why a string is skipped. Ebm9 has x6x662, 2x364x, x8x879, 11-x-11-10-7-x, 13-x-13-11-14-x, 9x486x, x-9-x-10-14-11.

Rootless. The root left to the bass player. Frees a finger for a tension. Ebm9 has xx3322, xx4666, x8867x, x-9-11-10-11-x, x-x-11-11-11-13, x-x-15-15-14-14, x4x362, x4436x.

Tensions. A shell of Ebm9, root, third and seventh, leaves a string free, and the tones that belong over it are the 11 (Ab) and the 13 (C).

What kind of chord this is. Ebm9 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.