D# Minor 6/9 (D#m6/9)

Also written as Eb Minor 6/9 (Eb and D# are the same key).

1+b3+5+6+9
B#E#D#F#A#
4 4
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Notes in D# Minor 6/9

D# (root)F#A#B#E#

Inversions

Same notes as D# Minor 6/9, with a different chord tone as the lowest note. Useful for smoother movement between chords instead of jumping around the keyboard.

Root position

D# in the bass

B#E#D#F#A#

1st inversion

F# in the bass

B#E#F#A#D#

2nd inversion

A# in the bass

B#E#A#D#F#

3rd inversion

B# in the bass

B#E#D#F#A#

4th inversion

E# in the bass

E#B#D#F#A#

Open voicings

A close-position chord like D# Minor 6/9 can sound cluttered in the middle of the keyboard. Jazz players open it up by dropping one note down an octave, spreading the same notes wider without changing the chord.

Drop 2

B# on the bottom

B#E#D#F#A#

Drop 3

A# on the bottom

B#E#A#D#F#

Play D#, F#, A#, B# and E# together and you get D# Minor 6/9.

A minor triad carrying both a sixth and a ninth, with no seventh in sight. It has the same open, settled quality as the major 6/9 chord moved into a minor key, and it works well as a tonic minor color in jazz and bossa nova wherever a plain minor seventh would sound too ordinary.

Difficulty: Advanced. Category: Extended chords. Click any highlighted key on the diagram above, or tab to it and press Enter, to hear that single note. Inversions mark the bass note with a contrasting outline.