E Minor guitar chord

The shape

Tap the diagram to hear E Minor strummed. E Minor is an open chord — it uses open strings near the nut, so it rings full and is friendly for beginners.

The notes in E Minor

A minor chord is spelled from its root up: E (R), G (♭3), B (5). Those are the only notes in E Minor — play them in any order, in any octave, and it's still E Minor.

What a minor chord is

In plain terms, a minor chord lowers the third of a major chord by one fret (a half step), giving root, flat third and fifth — one small change, a completely different mood.

How it's used: It's the home (i) of a minor key and the ii, iii and vi of a major key. That vi is the 'sad turn' in countless pop songs.

The sound: Darker, wistful, serious — the default 'sad' chord. Where you'll hear it: Minor-key songs, the emotional dip in major-key pop, film scores, metal.

Hear E Minor in a progression

As the i chord of a minor key, in a i–iv–V–i (with the V played major for a stronger pull home). Press play, and drag the Key control to move it anywhere.

Keys that use E Minor

E Minor appears naturally in these keys — click any to see all seven of its chords and how E Minor fits in:

Other E chords

minor chords on other roots

Chords and their spellings are shared facts of music theory. Every diagram and sound here is generated by ThunderFret's own engine — no tabs, lyrics or recordings are reproduced.