Minor chord · E root
Em chord
- E1
- G♭3
- B5
The E minor chord is built from the notes E, G, B. It turns up 113 times in the 80 songs on this site, including A Horse with No Name and A Thousand Years.
By Chiye · Updated
What is the Em chord?
The Em chord (E minor) is a minor chord built from three notes: E, G, B — the 1–♭3–5 of the E scale, 3 semitones and 7 semitones above the root. On guitar it is most often played in open position (0-2-2-0-0-0) with 2 fingers while 4 strings ring open. It is rated beginner — most players learn it in their first weeks. The darker, moodier counterpart of the major chord. It is one of the most-used chords in this site's library: across the 80 song sheets charted here, Em appears 113 times in 30 songs, most often in the keys of G and Em, and the chord it most often moves to is C. Below you will find step-by-step fingering, 4 positions up the neck, audio of every shape, and the real progressions this chord lives inside.
How do you play the Em chord on guitar?
Open position — the easiest version of Em on the guitar.
- Press the A string at fret 2 with your middle finger.
- Press the D string at fret 2 with your ring finger.
- Strum all six strings and let every one ring.
If it buzzes, the usual cause is a fingertip sitting in the middle of the fret space instead of just behind the wire. Move the whole hand a few millimetres toward the bridge and the buzz usually disappears without any extra pressure. 0-2-2-0-0-0
How do you make Em sound clean?
Pressing too hard — Em needs the lightest touch of any open chord. If your fingertips hurt on Em, you are squeezing.
Em → G: lift the middle finger, move the index up one string. The smallest useful change on guitar — practise economy of motion.
In real songs
What songs use the Em chord?
- chord changes
- 113
- songs
- 30
- common keys
- G · Em
Across the 80 chord sheets on this site, Em appears 113 times in 30 songs — most often in the keys of G and Em.
EmD6EmDadd9
EmD6EmD6
GDEmC
All 30 songs that use Em— key, capo and a link to every sheet
| Song | Artist | Key | Capo |
|---|---|---|---|
| A Horse with No Name | America | Em | — |
| A Thousand Years | Christina Perri | Bb | 3 |
| Ain't No Sunshine | Bill Withers | Am | — |
| Amazing Grace | Traditional | G | — |
| Brown Eyed Girl | Van Morrison | G | — |
| Can't Help Falling in Love | Elvis Presley | C | — |
| Country Roads | John Denver | G | — |
| Fast Car | Tracy Chapman | D | 2 |
| Good Riddance (Time of Your Life) | Green Day | Ab | 1 |
| Hotel California | Eagles | Bm | — |
| Lean on Me | Bill Withers | C | — |
| Let Her Go | Passenger | G | — |
| Let It Be | The Beatles | C | — |
| Lyin' Eyes | Eagles | G | — |
| Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) | The Beatles | E | — |
| Nothing Else Matters | Metallica | Em | — |
| Peaceful Easy Feeling | Eagles | E | 2 |
| Perfect | Ed Sheeran | Ab | 1 |
| Redemption Song | Bob Marley | G | — |
| Stand By Me | Ben E. King | G | — |
| Take It Easy | Eagles | G | — |
| The Boxer | Simon & Garfunkel | C | — |
| The Gambler | Kenny Rogers | Eb | 1 |
| The Times They Are A-Changin' | Bob Dylan | G | — |
| The Weight | The Band | A | 2 |
| Thinking Out Loud | Ed Sheeran | D | — |
| Wagon Wheel | Old Crow Medicine Show | A | 2 |
| Wake Me Up When September Ends | Green Day | G | — |
| Wish You Were Here | Pink Floyd | G | — |
| Zombie | The Cranberries | Em | — |
Chord flow
What chord comes after Em?
Those figures are counted from the 80 chord sheets on this site, so they describe what songwriters actually played rather than what theory says should come next.
Three-chord moves
Three-chord moves are where a chord really shows its character. These are the ones that actually happen in this library, counted from the sheets:
What other ways can you play Em up the neck?
3 more positions below. Learn one of these well and the rest become optional. The value of a second position is practical: it keeps your fretting hand near where the song is already heading.
Position 2 · Fret 2
Because nothing rings open, you can move this whole shape to any fret and it keeps the same quality — only the letter name changes.
Position 3 · Fret 7 barre
No open strings, so this is a movable shape: slide it up or down and the same fingering gives you a different chord name.
One bar does most of the work. Roll that finger onto its bony edge and pull the elbow slightly in — a barre that buzzes is almost always a position problem, not a strength problem.
Position 4 · Fret 9
No open strings, so this is a movable shape: slide it up or down and the same fingering gives you a different chord name.
Up at fret 9 the frets are close together, so use a lighter touch than you would in the open position — squeezing here pulls the notes sharp.
Watch the Em chord
Video: JustinGuitar on YouTube — embedded with the official player; credit and views belong to the creator.
The theory behind Em
Em is spelled E – G – B — the 1 – ♭3 – 5 of the E scale, which is the root plus 3 semitones, 7 semitones. The darker, moodier counterpart of the major chord.
The flattened third is what makes it minor, so if Em sounds wrong the third is almost always the note being muted — check the string carrying it before you change anything else.
What key is the Em chord in?
Em is the i chord in E minor, the ii chord in D major and the vi chord in G major — the three keys where Em appears naturally.
the home chord of the minor key
the gentle predominant — often before the V
the relative minor — the major key’s shadow
Em on other instruments
0 4 3 2
The same chord on four strings in standard tuning. Because the uke is tuned higher, this shape sits at a different place on the neck than its guitar equivalent — useful when arranging for both instruments.
E – G – B — all white keys, so you can find the shape by counting up from C.
Take it to the practice room
