Guitar chord · Ninths
D♭ minor 9th chord on guitar
x42440 · Open position
All 6 shapes, tab & fingering ↓
6 ways to play D♭m9 on guitar, with finger positions, tabs and step-by-step instructions.
Silky minor sound heard all over neo-soul and jazz.
- Notes
- D♭F♭A♭C♭E♭
- Formula
- 1♭35♭79
- Built from
- root · minor 3rd · perfect 5th · minor 7th · major 9th
Guitar
Standard tuning (E A D G B E) · 6 voicings · E string on the left · Other tunings →
How to play it · Open position
- 6th string (low E): don’t play — mute it
- 5th string (A): 4th fret, middle finger (2) D♭
- 4th string (D): 2nd fret, index finger (1) F♭
- 3rd string (G): 4th fret, ring finger (3) C♭
- 2nd string (B): 4th fret, pinky finger (4) E♭
- 1st string (high E): play open F♭
Tablature
e|--0---| B|--4---| G|--4---| D|--2---| A|--4---| E|--x---|
Top line is the high E string. x = don’t play, 0 = open string.
Every D♭m9 note on the guitar neck
Bright dots are the selected voicing — the rest are other places you can find the same chord tones.
Tips for playing D♭m9 on guitar
On guitar, D♭m9 has an open-position shape, x42440, using four fingers alongside the open strings. Don’t strum the low E string.
Notice the F♭ in D♭m9 (D♭ F♭ A♭ C♭ E♭): each note of the chord takes its own letter (D–F–A–C–E), so the minor 3rd has to be written F♭ rather than E — the same key on a piano, spelled to fit the chord.
