Fm9 Chord on Guitar

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

Fm9 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 Fm9 with 14 shapes up and down the neck. Tap a shape to hear it, or play it one string at a time.

Notes in Fm9

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.

How to play Fm9

Open positionBeginnerxx3044

Fret 6Easyx86888

Open positionMedium131044

E-shape barre at fret 1Medium131113

Fret 1Medium1x1113

Fret 11Easy(13)(11)(13)(12)xx

Fret 6 (root on the 5th string), step by step

1st finger (index): 4th string, 6th fret (A♭, the minor third).
2nd finger (middle): 5th string, 8th fret (F, the root).
3rd finger (ring): across the 3rd string and 2nd string and 1st string at the 8th fret (E♭, G, C).
Strum from the 5th string, and keep the 6th string quiet.

Tips

The fret 6 shape is the one to learn first. Once it is easy, try the shape at the 11th fret ((13)(11)(13)(12)xx): the same chord, higher and brighter, handy when the chords before and after it sit up the neck.

Keys and progressions with Fm9

Fm9 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: Fm9 – D♭ – A♭ – E♭.