Am9 piano chord — the keys, the inversions, the theory

Am9 is a minor ninth chord built from A, C, E, G, B. Below: the keys to press, every inversion with its own diagram, the intervals it is made of, the keys whose scale contains it, and a progression that actually uses it. Press any diagram to hear it.

Am9

A · C · E · G · B

Piano keyboardC4C5

Semitones above the root: 0 – 3 – 7 – 10 – 14

The third is minor — one semitone lower than in a major chord — which is where the darker colour comes from.

Inversions of Am9

  • Root position

    A · C · E · G · B · bass A

  • Inversion 1

    C · E · G · A · B · bass C

  • Inversion 2

    E · G · A · B · C · bass E

  • Inversion 3

    G · A · B · C · E · bass G

Same chord, different note at the bottom. Press a diagram to hear it — inversions are how you move between chords without jumping your hand across the keyboard.

Keys that contain Am9

  • Cvi
  • Gii

In C it does this job: I – V – vi – IV

  1. C
  2. G
  3. Am9
  4. F

Questions