Minor Ninth Chords

Let’s learn how to play an F sharp minor 9 chord on the piano. We’ll also learn the pattern for building any other minor ninth chord.

What Are Minor Ninth Chords?

Minor ninth chords are minor chords with two added notes. The added notes are the seventh note of the matching major scale, lowered 1/2 step, and the ninth note of the scale.

To build a minor ninth chord, we’ll start by building a minor chord. We can build a minor chord by building the matching major chord, and then lowering the middle note 1/2 step.

Then we’ll find the seventh note of the matching major scale, lower it 1/2 step, and add it to the chord.

The last note of the chord is the ninth note of the scale. But since scales only have eight notes, to find the ninth, we’ll need to repeat the scale into the next octave. The ninth note is the same as the second note of the scale, but one octave up.

Chord Types Printable

Learn to play 17 types of piano chords using 12 different root notes with this 35-page PDF! Chords are sorted both by their root note and type.

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How to Play an F Sharp Minor 9 Chord

So to build an F sharp minor ninth chord, we’ll start by building an F sharp minor chord. We can build an F sharp minor chord by taking an F sharp major chord (F♯ – A♯ – C♯) and lowering the middle note 1/2 step: F♯ – A – C♯

Then we’ll find the seventh note of the F sharp major scale, E♯, lower it 1/2 step and add it to the chord: E

Then we’ll repeat the scale into the next octave to find the ninth note, and add it to the chord: G♯

So to play an F sharp minor 9 chord, we’ll play:

F♯ – A – C♯ – E – G♯

We can use this knowledge to build any other minor 9 chord on the piano! We’ll first build a minor chord by taking the matching major chord and lowering the middle note 1/2 step. Then we’ll find the seventh note of the scale, lower it 1/2 step, and add it to the chord. Then we’ll repeat the scale into the next octave to find the ninth note and add it to the chord.

Fingering

You probably can’t reach all these notes in this order with your right hand only, so you have a couple options. One option is to play the F♯ with your left hand and to play the remaining notes with your right hand.

Another option is to rearrange the notes, and then play them in this order: C♯ – E – F♯ – G♯ – A

Other Chord Types

Some of the other chord types we can learn are:

Major
Minor
Augmented
Diminished
Second
Minor Second
Suspended
Fifth
Sixth
Minor Sixth
Seventh
Minor Seventh
Major Seventh
Ninth
Major Ninth

Conclusion

Now you know how to play an F sharp minor 9 chord on the piano, and you can use this knowledge to build any other minor ninth chord!

Using chords is a wonderful way to learn the piano! Chords help us understand the piano in terms of scales and patterns, and once we see how these patterns can be repeated, starting on any note, a new world of music is at our fingertips!