E Minor guitar chord
The standard grips this chord is usually shown with.
- Tap a note to hear it
- Arrows change position
- Fingers, notes or intervals
- Play the chord
About Em — 1st inversion
Em is E, G and B — E with the third lowered a semitone.
It sounds darker than a major triad, and just as settled. The i of a minor key, and the vi, ii or iii of a major one.
Em notes and formula
| E | G | B |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | ♭3 | 5 |
Tonic — minor chords rest as readily as major ones.
Also written Emin, E- or E minor. The same chord either way; which spelling you meet depends on who wrote the chart.
How to play Em
Em in 1st inversion puts G in the bass instead of E, the 3rd of the chord. The notes are the same; what changes is what the bass line does, which is most of why you would reach for it — it lets the lowest voice move by step where the root would have jumped.
2 of Em’s 10 common shapes do this: xx5453, x-10-9-9-8-x.
Start with 022000 — no barre and 4 open strings. 2 of the 10 shapes here sit in open position. 2 of the 10 need a barre. Together they cover the neck from the 2nd fret to the 14th.
| Frets | Where | Bass | Top | Hand |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 022000 | open position | E, root position | E | 4 open strings |
| 022453 | open position | E, root position | G | 1 open string |
| xx2453 | 2nd fret | E, root position | G | all fretted |
| xx5453 | 3rd fret | G, 1st inversion | G | all fretted |
| x7545x | 4th fret | E, root position | E | all fretted |
| x79987 | 7th fret | E, root position | B | all fretted |
| x-10-9-9-8-x | 8th fret | G, 1st inversion | G | all fretted |
| 12-10-9-9-x-12 | 9th fret | E, root position | E | all fretted |
| 12-14-14-12-12-12 | 12th fret | E, root position | E | barred |
| x-x-14-12-12-12 | 12th fret | E, root position | E | barred |
The same notes rebuilt from scratch give 48 triad and 6 open string voicings, each on its own page.
How to use Em
How you get to it. The turn that lands on Em 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 Em 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 Em
Every note of Em is in E minor pentatonic, E blues, E dorian, E natural minor and E phrygian.
Chords near Em
Change one note of Em and you have E (the minor third becomes a major third), Edim (the fifth becomes a flat fifth), Esus2 (the minor third becomes a ninth), Esus4 (the minor third becomes a fourth), Em6 (add the sixth) or Em7 (add the flat seventh).
Em is a minor chord — root, minor third, fifth. Minor chords on every root.
On Em’s sound and use this page follows Edward Aldwell & Carl Schachter, Harmony and Voice Leading (Schirmer / Cengage, 4th ed., 2011). The shapes and the derived voicings come from different places, and both are explained in where the chords and the theory come from.