Ebm9 Ukulele Chord

Ebm9 is the E flat minor ninth chord. It has five notes: E flat, G flat, B flat, D flat and F. Four strings can hold four of them, so the shape drops the fifth. There is exactly one reachable way to finger the rest, and it starts at the 6th fret.

All four fingers, one per string, root on the g string at the 8th fret. The fifth is left out, which no ear misses in a ninth chord. The same claw slides to every other minor ninth.

How to play Ebm9 on ukulele, step by step

Index finger: 6th fret, C string
Middle finger: 8th fret, G string
Ring finger: 8th fret, A string
Pinky finger: 9th fret, E string
Strum all four strings.

This is the movable minor ninth grip with the root on the g string. Slide it down two frets and it is C#m9; the same claw, one address lower.

If the shape is not clean

Four fingers feel crowded: One finger per string, index first on the C string at the 6th fret. Up here the frets are narrower, which actually makes the claw easier than it is near the nut.
The pinky note is weak: The pinky holds the flat seventh on the E string at the 9th fret. Curl it onto its tip and let the hand pivot slightly so the weight reaches it.
Notes choke against the body: On a soprano the 9th fret sits close to the body and the fingers arrive at an angle. Bring the elbow in toward your side and the hand squares up to the neck.

What makes it an Ebm9

E♭ · G♭ · B♭ · D♭ · F 1 ♭3 5 ♭7 9

Ebm9 is an Ebm7 chord with a ninth added: E flat, G flat, B flat and D flat make the minor seventh, and the F makes it a ninth. The shape keeps the root, flat third, flat seventh and ninth and drops the fifth, the one note a ninth chord can spare.

It is the ii chord of C sharp, a key that lives in soul, gospel and R and B rather than in ukulele songbooks. When a chart from those worlds crosses your stand, this is the grip that answers it.

Ebm9 vs Ebm7

Ebm9 adds an F, the ninth, to the four notes of Ebm7. The ninth sits a whole step above the root an octave up and keeps the minor floating instead of settling.

Ebm7 on a ukulele is a compact shape in the first four frets; Ebm9 lives at the 6th. The move up the neck is the price of the extra note, and the darker, closer voice up there suits the chord.

Ebm9 chord questions

Is Ebm9 the same as D#m9?

Yes, one chord with two names. E flat suits the flat keys this chord lives in, so it is the spelling used here.

Why does this page show only one shape?

On four strings inside a reachable stretch there is exactly one honest way to hold E flat, G flat, D flat and F together. Everything else loses a note the chord needs or spans more frets than a hand can cover.

Why is there no B flat in the shape?

Four strings sound and the chord has five notes, so one has to go. The fifth adds weight but no character, which is why ninth chords always drop it.

Is the shape movable?

Yes. The root sits on the g string, so the same claw two frets lower is C#m9 and two higher is Fm9. Learn it once and you own the whole minor ninth family.

Where is Ebm9 used?

As the ii chord in C sharp and across soul, gospel and jazz charts, where flat minor ninths are everyday chords.