How to Play Ebm9 on Piano

The Eb Minor 9th chord sounds smoky and relaxed. It stacks 5 notes: Eb – Gb – Bb – Db – F.

A minor seventh with a ninth on top. It keeps the calm of the minor seventh and adds a note that stops the chord sounding plain, which is why neo-soul and bossa nova lean on it so heavily.

TagsJazzGospel & SoulFunkDarkDreamyTwo-Hand ChordsAdvanced

Notes in Ebm9

NoteIntervalRHLH
EbEb4RootR
GbGb4Minor 3rdb3
BbBb4Perfect 5th5
DbDb5Minor 7thb7
FF5Major 9th9

No fingers are listed against the written notes because no hand holds this chord as written. The playable split is beside this table.

How to Play

Two hands, because it is wider than an octave

Written out, Ebm9 spans 14 semitones, so nobody grabs it in one hand. Play it the way it is actually played:

  • Left hand: Eb as the bass, finger 5.
  • Right hand: Gb, Bb, Db, F, fingers 1-2-3-5.

Shell voicing

Root, third and seventh: Eb, Gb, Db, left hand 5-3-1. Those three notes are what make this chord the chord it is, so a jazz player holds them in the left hand and keeps the right hand free for the melody.

Where it sits

4 notes of this chord (Eb, Gb, Bb, Db) are on black keys, so play it a little further back on the keys than an all-white shape.

Practice Ebm9 in the player

Opens a block chord drill for Ebm9. More drills, from broken chords to inversions, are further down the page.

Practice Exercises

Play each one to hear it, then open it in the practice player, which shows the notes coming toward you and checks what you play on a MIDI keyboard or the on-screen piano.

1

Block Chord

Press all 5 notes (Eb, Gb, Bb, Db, F) at the same time. Hold for 4 beats, release, then repeat 8 times. Focus on pressing every key at exactly the same moment with even volume.

Practice block chords
2

Broken Chord (Arpeggio)

Play each note one at a time. Go up, then back down:

Eb → Gb → Bb → Db → F → F → Db → Bb → Gb → Eb

Keep a steady rhythm. Once comfortable, try speeding up gradually.

Practice the broken chord
3

Inversions and Slash Chords

The same 5 notes rearranged so a different one sits at the bottom. This is the same idea as a slash chord: Ebm9/Gb is simply Ebm9 with Gb in the bass. Learning to move between them is what stops your hand jumping around the keyboard.

InversionWrittenNotesRH
Root positionEbm9Eb – Gb – Bb – Db – F1-2-3-4-5
1st inversionEbm9/GbGb – Bb – Db – F – Eb1-2-3-4-5
2nd inversionEbm9/BbBb – Db – F – Eb – Gb1-2-3-4-5
3rd inversionEbm9/DbDb – F – Eb – Gb – Bb1-2-3-4-5
4th inversionEbm9/FF – Eb – Gb – Bb – Db1-2-3-4-5
Practice the inversions
4

Two-Hand: Bass + Chord

Left hand: play Eb one octave lower as a single bass note. Right hand: play Gb, Bb, Db, F. Play the bass note first, then the chord, like a simple accompaniment pattern. Repeat until it feels natural.

Practice bass and chord

When to use each slash chord

Ebm9/GbGb – Bb – Db – F – Eb

Puts the third in the bass, which is the usual way to walk a bass line by step between two chords a third apart.

Ebm9/BbBb – Db – F – Eb – Gb

Puts the fifth in the bass. This is the shape that keeps a pedal-like bass under a changing harmony, and the one most often written with a slash in pop and worship charts.

Ebm9/DbDb – F – Eb – Gb – Bb

Puts the seventh in the bass, which pulls the bass line downward by step into the next chord.

Ebm9/FF – Eb – Gb – Bb – Db

Puts the highest chord tone in the bass. Rare, and worth knowing mostly so you can read it when it appears.

Chords You Can Play Instead of Ebm9

These share most of their notes with Ebm9, so any of them can stand in for it without breaking the harmony. Swapping one in is the quickest way to make a progression you already know sound different.

F#maj74 shared
F# – A# – C# – E#
its relative major
F#64 shared
F# – A# – C# – D#
its relative major
Bmaj94 shared
B – D# – F# – A# – C#
the submediant, VI where this is i
Db6/94 shared
Db – F – Ab – Bb – Eb
four notes in common
Eb94 shared
Eb – G – Bb – Db – F
four notes in common
Eb114 shared
Eb – Bb – Db – F – Ab
four notes in common

Keys and Scales for Ebm9

Keys Ebm9 belongs to

Every note of Ebm9 is in each of these keys, and the numeral says the job it does there.

Scales to play over it

None of these produce a note that clashes with Ebm9. The ones built on Eb itself are the ones to learn, because that rule then works in every key.

Minor 9th Chords in Every Key

The same shape moved to another root. Once you can hear what a minor 9th chord does, the work left is finding it under the hand in the other eleven keys.

Cm9C#m9Dm9Em9Fm9F#m9Gm9G#m9Am9Bbm9Bm9

Other Eb Chords

Every other chord in the library built on Eb: what Ebm9 becomes when a note is added, moved or taken away.

Eb5
Eb – Bb
Eb6
Eb – G – Bb – C
Eb7
Eb – G – Bb – Db
Eb9
Eb – G – Bb – Db – F
Eb11
Eb – Bb – Db – F – Ab
Eb13
Eb – G – Bb – Db – F – C
Eb6/9
Eb – G – Bb – C – F
Eb
Eb – G – Bb
Ebm
Eb – Gb – Bb
Ebmaj7
Eb – G – Bb – D
Ebm7
Eb – Gb – Bb – Db
Ebaug
Eb – G – B
Ebsus2
Eb – F – Bb
Ebsus4
Eb – Ab – Bb
Ebm6
Eb – Gb – Bb – C
Ebadd9
Eb – G – Bb – F
Ebm7b5
Eb – Gb – Bbb – Db
EbmMaj7
Eb – Gb – Bb – D
Ebmaj9
Eb – G – Bb – D – F
Eb7b9
Eb – G – Bb – Db – Fb
Eb7#9
Eb – G – Bb – Db – F#