Lesson 45 · All 12 keys

Minor 6/9 Chord Trainer

Learn how a Minor 6/9 chord is built one semitone-count at a time — a minor 6th chord (Lesson 21) with a 9th stacked on top, and no 7th of any kind — then put it to work with three MIDI exercises: playing all 12 minor 6/9 chords around the circle of fourths, and 5 jazz plus 5 gospel chord progressions that show off its color, in every key.

How a Minor 6/9 chord is built

A Minor 6/9 chord — written m6/9 (e.g. Cm6/9) — is a 5-note chord: a minor 6th chord (Lesson 21) with a 9th stacked on top, and no 7th of any kind. Every m6/9 chord — in any of the 12 keys — is built the exact same way, by counting semitones to the right from a root note:

  1. The starting note — this note names the chord.
  2. Count 3 semitones up from the root — the minor 3rd.
  3. Count 4 more semitones up from the 3rd (7 semitones from the root) — the perfect 5th.
  4. Count 2 more semitones up from the 5th (9 semitones from the root) — the major 6th, the same 6th a minor 6th chord (Lesson 21) uses.
  5. Count 5 more semitones up from the 6th (14 semitones from the root — an octave plus a major 2nd) — the 9th, stacked on top.
Example — Cm6/9: start on C, count 3 semitones right to reach E♭, count 4 semitones more to reach G, count 2 semitones more to reach A, count 5 semitones more to reach D. C‑E♭‑G‑A‑D is the Cm6/9 chord.
A minor 6/9 chord has no 7th at all — that is what makes it a "no-7th" minor tonic color, the exact minor-key parallel to the major 6/9 chord (Lesson 30). Because it avoids both a ♭7th and a major 7th, it never pulls anywhere; it simply sits, rich and unresolved, on the minor tonic.

Try it: pick a root and build the chord step by step

Step 1 of 5
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Chord toneNoteSemitones from rootMIDI #

All 12 minor 6/9 chords at a glance

ChordRootMinor 3rdPerfect 5thMajor 6th9th

This MIDI exercise plays all 12 minor 6/9 chords, one after another, moving around the circle of fourths — each chord's root sits a perfect 4th (5 semitones) above the last one: C → F → B♭ → E♭ → A♭ → D♭ → G♭/F♯ → B → E → A → D → G → back to C. Every chord is played as a full 5-note Minor 6/9 chord (root, minor 3rd, perfect 5th, major 6th, 9th together).

Chord 1 of 12
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The 12 chords, in circle-of-fourths order

#ChordRootMinor 3rdPerfect 5thMajor 6th9th

Five jazz chord progressions built around the Minor 6/9 chord. Pick a progression and play it in one key or cycle through all 12.

Key of C
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Progression in C

DegreeChordNotes

Five gospel chord progressions built around the Minor 6/9 chord. Pick a progression and play it in one key or cycle through all 12.

Key of C
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Progression in C

DegreeChordNotes