Em7 guitar chord
An open string left ringing against a fretted grip. Because it costs no finger, it sounds a note the closed shape has none left for -- a tension on top, or a pedal root underneath. Either a familiar grip with open strings added, or a shape so sparse the open strings carry the chord. These belong to their key rather than to a shape, so D, A, G and E have many and Eb a handful.
- Tap a note to hear it
- Arrows change position
- Fingers, notes or intervals
- Play the chord
About Em7 — open string voicings
Em7 is E, G, B and D — Em with the flat seventh added.
It sounds smooth and unhurried. The workhorse of the family, and the chord soul, funk and jazz comp on more than any other.
Pre-dominant — the ii of a major key, and a tonic in its own right.
Em7 notes and formula
| E | G | B | D |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ♭3 | 5 | ♭7 |
Also written Emin7, E-7 or E minor 7. The same chord either way; which spelling you meet depends on who wrote the chart.
How to play Em7
An open string left ringing against a fretted grip. It costs no finger, so it can sound a note the closed shape has none left for: a tension on top, or a pedal root underneath.
These belong to their key rather than to a shape: they cannot be moved up the neck. D, A, G and E have many; E♭ has a handful.
Em7 has 6 of them, on strings 6-5-4-3-2-1, the middle four strings, strings 6-5-4-3-2 and strings 6-4-3-2-1, from the 2nd fret up to the 5th — all in one inversion, so the bass note never moves. The one to learn first is the E shape at the 2nd fret, which is the easiest grip here.
Play Em7 as a shell — root, third and seventh — and the spare string takes the 9 (F#), the 11 (A) or the 13 (C#).
All 9 common shapes as fret numbers, lowest string first. Hover or tap one to see it drawn.
- 020000, open position, E, root position, top note E, 5 open strings
- 022030, open position, E, root position, top note E, 3 open strings
- 022433, open position, E, root position, top note G, 1 open string
- xx2433, 2nd fret, E, root position, top note G, all fretted
- x7575x, 5th fret, E, root position, top note E, all fretted
- x7578x, 5th fret, E, root position, top note G, all fretted
- x79787, 7th fret, E, root position, top note B, barred
- x-x-9-9-8-10, 8th fret, B, 2nd inversion, top note D, all fretted
- 12-14-12-12-12-12, 12th fret, E, root position, top note E, barred
How to use Em7
How you get to it. The turn that lands on Em7 is F#m7♭5 to B7♭9: the ii and the V of E minor, which is where a minor tonic is usually arrived at rather than simply begun on.
In which keys. Every note of Em7 belongs to C major (the iii), D major (the ii), E minor (the i), G major (the vi), A minor (the v) and B minor (the iv).
What to play over Em7
Every note of Em7 is in E minor pentatonic, E blues, E dorian, E natural minor and E phrygian.
Chords near Em7
Change one note of Em7 and you have Em (drop the flat seventh), Em6 (the flat seventh becomes the sixth), Em7b5 (the fifth becomes the flat fifth), Em9 (add the ninth), EmMaj7 (the flat seventh becomes the major seventh) or E7 (the minor third becomes the major third).
Em7 is a minor chord — root, minor third, fifth. Minor chords on every root.
The common shapes and the derived voicings come from different places, and both are explained in how this site is built.