Now that you’ve learnt two basic major Chord patterns, and learnt how to move them to different positions on the fretboard, I’m going to show you two minor chord shapes.
What I’m not going to do this time, is show you both the chordbook fingerings and my fingerings. I’ll just be showing the fingering I use. You should now understand why I play them the way I do.
Below is the E minor chord, or E min or Em with the root note on the sixth string.E Minor Chord |
Using the same principle as before, we can now slide this up the fretboard and press the first finger down across the strings at the third fret to produce the G minor chord below.
G Minor Chord |
Sixth String Notes |
That’s the first minor chord shape. The second shape below is the A min chord.
A Minor Chord |
The difference between the A Major chord and the A Minor chord isn’t just a matter of lifting off one finger and playing a string open as with the E Major and E Minor chords.
Funny thing is, the A Minor chord shape and fingering is identical to the E Major chord shape except that the fingers are moved up one string higher. This might help you remember it.
Again, this chord can be moved up the keyboard. Again, at the third fret, below is the C Minor, or C min or Cm, chord.
C Minor Chord |
Fifth String Notes |
You should be getting the idea now. By knowing the notes on your fifth and sixth strings, and by knowing just a couple of different chord shapes, you should be able to play any chord you want.
There’s more chord shapes to learn when you’re ready. I’ve tried to show you the two easiest to remember and use. There are more than just the major and minor chords, they will be in the following articles.
This post first appeared on Learn Guitar: Frequently Asked Questions, please read the originial post: here