Learn how to Play the Am9 Guitar Chord

Learn how to play the Am9 Guitar Chord (also known as A minor 9, A Minor 9th) with this free tutorial.  This is an advanced lesson.  If you would like to learn a beginner version of this chord, follow this link for an easy Am9 guitar chord.

In order to find the notes that make up this particular chord, we need to take the 1, b3, 5 , b7, 9  steps of the A Major Scale: A, B, C#, D, E, F#, G#.  This will give us the notes A, C, E, G,  and B.  The “b3” symbol simply means that we take the third position of the A Major Scale (C#) and we flatten it by 1/2 step, giving us our “C”.  Take the same concept with our “b7” symbol, only we are flattening the 7th step of the A Major Scale (G#), giving us our “G”.  Simple enough right?

So, the notes of the A Minor 9 chord again are: A, C, E, G and B

The chord  chart below demonstrates how to play the Am9 Chord.

Here is a key that will help you read the chart:

Everything on the above chart should be self explanatory, except for the last three in the third column. They may need a bit of explaining. The O, or open symbol, simply means that you do not press down on any notes on that string. The X means you do not strum that particular string. The Barre symbol means you need to barre that particular fret. When you barre a fret you are pressing down on multiple strings at the same time with one finger.

Chord Playing Tips: Be sure that you are pressing down on the strings hard enough and play each string one at a time to make sure you have a nice clean sound. If any of the strings buzz or sound muted, then something is not right.

A Minor 9th Guitar Chord Video

The video below will further demonstrate how to play the Am9 Guitar Chord as a barre chord on the 5th fret.