G♭ minor 9th chord

Playing it

On guitar, G♭m9 has an open-position shape, 202120, using four fingers alongside the open strings.

On piano, G♭m9 has three black keys (G♭, D♭ and A♭) and two white keys. In root position it spans more than an octave, so many pianists play the root with the left hand and the rest with the right.

On ukulele the usual G♭m9 shape is 1100, using two fingers. It leaves out the root, which a bass player (or your ear) fills in.

Related chords

Move a single note and G♭m9 becomes a different chord: drop the A♭ for G♭m7 and raise B𝄫 to B♭ for G♭9.

Where you’ll hear it

Notice the B𝄫 in G♭m9 (G♭ B𝄫 D♭ F♭ A♭): each note of the chord takes its own letter (G–B–D–F–A), so the minor 3rd has to be written B𝄫 rather than A — the same key on a piano, spelled to fit the chord.