Arpeggio · Dm9 · Guitar
The Dm9 arpeggio is D – F – A – C – E — chord tones 1 ♭3 5 ♭7 9. Dm9 is a coloured ii chord or minor tonic; its sound is smooth, modern. Below, every D, F, A, C, E 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 5. 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 D |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | D | unison (0 semitones) |
| ♭3 | F | minor 3rd (3 semitones) |
| 5 | A | perfect 5th (7 semitones) |
| ♭7 | C | minor 7th (10 semitones) |
| 9 | E | major 2nd + octave (14 semitones) |
Goes with: D Dorian (D E F G A B C). Voicings: see the four-note chord voicings in the chord library.
Common questions
D – F – A – C – E. As chord tones: 1 ♭3 5 ♭7 9. Played one after another instead of together, that is the arpeggio.
Dm9 is a coloured ii chord or minor tonic. Its character is smooth, modern.
D Dorian (D E F G A B C) — the arpeggio is the skeleton of that scale, so practise them together.
Start on the root D on the A string at fret 5 and play A-string fret 5, A-string fret 7, A-string fret 8, D-string fret 7, G-string fret 5, G-string fret 7. 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 D