Gm9 Chord on Guitar

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

Gm9 is a minor ninth chord made of 5 notes: G, B♭, D, F, A. It sounds lush and smooth, and you hear it in neo-soul, R&B and jazz ballads. It is the i chord of G minor and turns up in 5 other keys.

The library above opens on Gm9 with 14 shapes up and down the neck. Tap a shape to hear it, or play it one string at a time.

Notes in Gm9

Note	Degree	Interval from G	Semitones
G	1	root	0
B♭	♭3	minor third	3
D	5	perfect fifth	7
F	♭7	minor seventh	10
A	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 Gm9

Open positionBeginner3033xx

Open positionEasy300331

Fret 8Easyx(10)8(10)(10)(10)

Open positionMedium3102x1

Fret 3Easy300066

E-shape barre at fret 3Medium353335

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

1st finger (index): 1st string, 1st fret (F, the minor seventh).
2nd finger (middle): 6th string, 3rd fret (G, the root).
3rd finger (ring): 3rd string, 3rd fret (B♭, the minor third).
4th finger (little): 2nd string, 3rd fret (D, the fifth).
Let the 5th string, 4th string ring open (A, D).
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 8th fret (x(10)8(10)(10)(10)): the same chord, higher and brighter, handy when the chords before and after it sit up the neck.

Keys and progressions with Gm9

Gm9 belongs to 6 keys: iii in E♭ major, ii in F major, vi in B♭ major, v in C minor, iv in D minor, i in G minor. In G minor, try i–VI–III–VII: Gm9 – E♭ – B♭ – F.