Arpeggio · Em9 · Piano
The Em9 arpeggio is E – G – B – D – F♯ — chord tones 1 ♭3 5 ♭7 9. Em9 is a coloured ii chord or minor tonic; its sound is smooth, modern. Below, every E, G, B, D, F♯ on the two-octave keyboard is marked, with the root in gold. Press play to hear a one-octave arpeggio, or tap any note.
Visualizer
Piano
Guitar · standard tuning
Play runs the arpeggio up and down one octave. 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 E |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | E | unison (0 semitones) |
| ♭3 | G | minor 3rd (3 semitones) |
| 5 | B | perfect 5th (7 semitones) |
| ♭7 | D | minor 7th (10 semitones) |
| 9 | F♯ | major 2nd + octave (14 semitones) |
Goes with: E Dorian (E F♯ G A B C♯ D). Voicings: see the four-note chord voicings in the chord library.
Common questions
E – G – B – D – F♯. As chord tones: 1 ♭3 5 ♭7 9. Played one after another instead of together, that is the arpeggio.
Em9 is a coloured ii chord or minor tonic. Its character is smooth, modern.
E Dorian (E F♯ G A B C♯ D) — the arpeggio is the skeleton of that scale, so practise them together.
Play E – G – B – D – F♯ ascending from E, then descend; then start from each chord tone in turn (inversions) so your hand knows the shape from any note.
Keep going
Same arpeggio on guitar · Minor 9th hub · chord-scale theory.
Other arpeggios from E