Guitar · ninth
E9 Chord on Guitar
E Dominant 9th is E, G#, B, D, F# — the 1-3-5-b7-9 pattern of a ninth chord. There are 2 ways to play it on guitar, ranked below from easiest to hardest.
Good news: E9 has an open shape on guitar, so you can play it without barring anything. Start there and work up the neck later.
The shape most players use — E Shape Barre (1st fret)
Open shape — open strings ring right through it and there is nothing to barre. If you only learn one, learn this one.
Easier ways to play it — 2 shapes, easiest first
Same chord in all of them. What changes is how much your hand has to do and where on the neck it sits.
Movable Root-5 Shape (6th fret) Way 1 of 2
Movable Root-5 Shape (6th fret)
Easiest here· intermediate
Sits at fret 6 — tighter and brighter than the low shapes, and high enough to keep out of the way of anyone playing the open version underneath.
E Shape Barre (1st fret) Way 2 of 2
E Shape Barre (1st fret)
advanced· the standard shape
Open shape — open strings ring right through it and there is nothing to barre. If you only learn one, learn this one.
What beginners get wrong
Moving in and out of it
The shape above: E Shape Barre (1st fret) — open position, so several strings ring unfretted.
Listening: each shape above has its own play button, and each one plays the notes that shape actually produces — not a generic triad.
E9 on other instruments
Same notes, different hands. Every link below is a real page with diagrams and audio.
Chords next door
Same root, different colour — and all of them playable on guitar.
E9 on Guitar — questions people ask
What is the easiest way to play E9 on guitar?
“Movable Root-5 Shape (6th fret)” — which we rate intermediate — is the easiest E9 shape on guitar. Sits at fret 6 — tighter and brighter than the low shapes, and high enough to keep out of the way of anyone playing the open version underneath.
What notes are in the E Dominant 9th chord?
E Dominant 9th is E, G#, B, D, F# — the 1-3-5-b7-9 interval pattern of a ninth chord. Every voicing on this page uses those notes and nothing else; they just appear in a different order and octave.
How many ways can you play E9 on guitar?
This page has 2 E9 voicings for guitar, ranked from easiest to hardest: Movable Root-5 Shape (6th fret), E Shape Barre (1st fret). They all sound like E9; the differences are how hard they are to hold and how high they sit.
What can I play instead of E9?
The nearest stand-ins on guitar that keep the same root are Esus4, Esus2, E. They keep the root and the fifth and only change what sits in the middle, so most songs still work — but check the swap against the melody, because the note you removed may be the one the tune is singing.
Can I play E9 on other instruments?
Yes. E9 is the same set of notes everywhere; only the fingering changes. This site has diagrams and audio for it on piano, ukulele, mandolin.
Learn the theory behind E9
The shape gets your fingers there. These explain why it sounds the way it does.