7EGDF#
Fig. 1 · Em9 · hard

ukulele chord

Em9

E1G♭3B5D♭7F♯9

A minor seventh with a ninth on top.

on guitaron pianothe scale

What is true of it

Em9 is E, G, B, D and F♯ — 1, b3, 5, b7 and 9 counted from E.

On an instrument that cannot reach all 5, the 5 and 1 go first, in that order.

The easiest of the 1 fingering below is 97a9: 4 fingers, held at the 7th fret.

None of them uses an open string, so this chord moves up the neck unchanged — the same shape 1 fret higher is the chord a semitone above.

It leaves out the 5. 4 strings cannot carry 5 notes, and the 5 is the one this chord can lose without changing what it is.

Where its notes are on the neck

GCEA123456789101112b35b719b3b719b3519b35b715b719b3
Fig. 3 — first 12 frets

The brass dots are E, the root. Everything else is a chord tone with its degree printed in it.

With a different note underneath

first inversion

Em9/G

0222

3
second inversion

Em9/B

4635

7
third inversion

Em9/D

7779

An inversion is the same chord with a different note lowest. The name changes to a slash name because the bass is what a listener hears as the foundation.

E in other shapes

Eadd9added ninthE9dominant ninthEmaj9major ninthEmajorEmminorEdimdiminished

Cm9C♯m9D♭m9Dm9D♯m9E♭m9Fm9F♯m9all 374