F♯m9 / G♭m9 Chord on Guitar

1,008 guitar chords with several shapes each, finger numbers, difficulty and real sound, in any tuning.

F♯m9 (also written G♭m9) is a minor ninth chord made of 5 notes: F♯, A, C♯, E, G♯. It sounds lush and smooth, and you hear it in neo-soul, R&B and jazz ballads. It is the i chord of F♯ minor and turns up in 5 other keys.

The library above opens on F♯m9 with 14 shapes up and down the neck. Tap a shape to hear it, or play it one string at a time.

Notes in F♯m9

Note	Degree	Interval from F♯	Semitones
F♯	1	root	0
A	♭3	minor third	3
C♯	5	perfect fifth	7
E	♭7	minor seventh	10
G♯	9	major ninth	14

Formula: 1 – ♭3 – 5 – ♭7 – 9. On guitar the 5th is often left out of the bigger shapes without changing the chord. With the other spelling, G♭m9 is G♭, B𝄫, D♭, F♭, A♭: the same sounds under different names.

How to play F♯m9

Open positionBeginner2021xx

Open positionEasy202224

Fret 7Easyx97999

Open positionMedium204120

E-shape barre at fret 2Medium242224

Fret 12Easy(14)(12)(14)(13)xx

Open position (root on the 6th string), step by step

1st finger (index): 6th string, 2nd fret (F♯, the root).
2nd finger (middle): across the 4th string and 3rd string and 2nd string at the 2nd fret (E, A, C♯).
3rd finger (ring): 1st string, 4th fret (G♯, the ninth).
Let the 5th string ring open (A).
Strum from the 6th string across all six strings.

Tips

The open position shape is the one to learn first. Once it is easy, try the shape at the 7th fret (x97999): the same chord, higher and brighter, handy when the chords before and after it sit up the neck.

Keys and progressions with F♯m9

F♯m9 belongs to 6 keys: iii in D major, ii in E major, vi in A major, iv in C♯ minor, i in F♯ minor, v in B minor. In F♯ minor, try i–VI–III–VII: F♯m9 – D – A – E.