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Minor chords on guitar: how they are built and how to play them

A minor chord is a major chord with one note lowered by a single fret. That one fret changes everything: the chord turns darker, softer, more inward. Three minor chords are open and easy, Em, Am and Dm, and the rest come from two movable barre shapes. This page explains how the family is built, how to play it, and in what order to learn it.

How a minor chord is built

A minor chord has three notes: the root, the minor third (three frets above the root) and the perfect fifth (seven frets above the root). In scale steps: 1, flat 3, 5.

Chord Root Minor third Fifth
AmACE
EmEGB
DmDFA
BmBDF#
CmCEbG

Compare A major (A, C#, E) with A minor (A, C, E). Two notes stay, one drops a fret, and the color flips. On a symbol, the lowercase m says minor: Am is A minor, while A alone is A major. You may also see Amin or A-.

The three open minor chords

These are the minor chords to learn first. None needs a barre, and each one is a known major shape with one finger moved.

E minor 0 2 2 0 0 0 · 2 3 · · · fingers
A minor x 0 2 2 1 0 · · 2 3 1 · fingers
D minor x x 0 2 3 1 · · · 2 3 1 fingers
  • E minor, 022000: two fingers, all six strings. Lift the first finger from E major and you have it.
  • A minor, x02210: the E major shape moved over one string. Start on the fifth string.
  • D minor, xx0231: top four strings only. Strumming too wide is the usual mistake.

Every other minor chord: two barre shapes

The other minor chords are open shapes made movable. Barre the first finger across the strings and the Em and Am shapes slide anywhere on the neck.

F minor, Em shape 1 3 3 1 1 1 1 3 4 1 1 1 fingers
B minor, Am shape x 2 4 4 3 2 · 1 3 4 2 1 fingers
C minor, Am shape x 3 5 5 4 3 · 1 3 4 2 1 fingers
  • The Em shape, root on the sixth string: F minor at the first fret (133111), G minor at the third (355333).
  • The Am shape, root on the fifth string: B minor at the second fret (x24432), C minor at the third (x35543).
Each barre has a smaller way in. B minor works as x2443x before the high E joins in. C minor can start as x310xx, F minor as xx311x, and G minor has a near-open shape, 310033. The barre chords page gives the fret for every minor chord.

In what order to learn them

  1. Em
  2. Am
  3. Dm
  4. Bm, step by step
  5. Cm, Fm and Gm, as movable shapes

Then practice them where they live, in progressions rather than one by one:

Progression What it teaches
Am, F, C, G The minor chord as a starting point.
Em, C, G, D Open chords only, a minor color from the first bar.
D, A, Bm, G The vi chord of D major, and your first barre in context.
C, Cm One fret, two moods: hear the third change.
Gm, Cm Two barre shapes in a row.

Two less common roots follow when a key asks for them: G# minor, the iii chord of E major, and B flat minor. Both are barre shapes.

Every minor chord

After the plain minor chords

The minor triad opens several families, each one adding a single note:

Frequently asked questions

What is a minor chord on guitar?
Three notes: the root, the minor third three frets above it, and the perfect fifth seven frets above it. A minor is A, C and E. Compared with a major chord, only the third moves, one fret lower.
Which minor chords should I learn first?
Em, Am and Dm: all three are open and need no barre. Then B minor, built in steps (x2443x before x24432), and after that Cm, Fm and Gm as movable barre shapes.
Why is B minor so hard?
Because its standard shape, x24432, needs a partial barre at the second fret, and it is usually the first barre a song asks for. Start with x2443x, which leaves out the high E, and add the barre once the other three fingers land on their own. The B minor page builds it in layers.
Are minor chords always sad?
No. A minor chord can sound sad, but also dark, tender, tense or simply serious, depending on the tempo, the rhythm and the chords around it. In a major key the minor chords (ii, iii and vi) are what keep a progression from sounding flat.
Yohann Abbou, guitar teacher and founder of Guitar Social Club

Who made this

Guitar Social Club is the work of Yohann Abbou, a guitar teacher in Paris. He teaches adults, and the order on this page is the one he uses in lessons: three open minor chords first, then B minor built in layers, then the movable shapes. All the chord families are gathered on the guitar chords page.

More about Yohann on his page, and about why Guitar Social Club exists.