Arpeggio · Bm9 · Guitar
The Bm9 arpeggio is B – D – F♯ – A – C♯ — chord tones 1 ♭3 5 ♭7 9. Bm9 is a coloured ii chord or minor tonic; its sound is smooth, modern. Below, every B, D, F♯, A, C♯ on the fretboard is marked, with the root in gold. Press play to hear a one-octave arpeggio, or tap any note.
Visualizer
Guitar · standard tuning
Piano
Play loops the arpeggio up and down one octave (switch Loop off for a single pass) in the position starting at fret 7. Tap any marked note to hear it. “Show” switches or combines the fretboard and keyboard; “Sound” picks the instrument you hear. Audio is synthesized in the browser.
Reference
| Chord tone | Note | Interval from B |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | B | unison (0 semitones) |
| ♭3 | D | minor 3rd (3 semitones) |
| 5 | F♯ | perfect 5th (7 semitones) |
| ♭7 | A | minor 7th (10 semitones) |
| 9 | C♯ | major 2nd + octave (14 semitones) |
Goes with: B Dorian (B C♯ D E F♯ G♯ A). Voicings: see the four-note chord voicings in the chord library.
Common questions
B – D – F♯ – A – C♯. As chord tones: 1 ♭3 5 ♭7 9. Played one after another instead of together, that is the arpeggio.
Bm9 is a coloured ii chord or minor tonic. Its character is smooth, modern.
B Dorian (B C♯ D E F♯ G♯ A) — the arpeggio is the skeleton of that scale, so practise them together.
Start on the root B on the low E string at fret 7 and play E-string fret 7, E-string fret 9, E-string fret 10, A-string fret 9, D-string fret 7, D-string fret 9. Then play it descending, then in eighth notes with a metronome, then over the a coloured ii chord or minor tonic.
Keep going
Same arpeggio on piano · Minor 9th hub · chord-scale theory.
Other arpeggios from B