The Minor Shapes

Minor chords work exactly the same way, and if you understand the major shapes there is very little new to learn. A minor chord is a major chord with its third lowered by one fret, so each minor shape is its major counterpart with one note moved.

In practice three of the five do the heavy lifting: the E minor shape, the A minor shape and the D minor shape. The C and G shapes have minor versions, but they are contorted enough that almost nobody uses them.

Start with the E minor shape, rooted on the sixth string. Compare it with the F major from lesson two — one note has moved.

Fm

F minor: the E minor shape barred at the first fret. Against F major, the note on the third string has dropped a fret.

Moved up to the fifth fret, the sixth-string root is A.

Am

A minor as an E-minor-shape barre at the fifth fret.

The A minor shape is rooted on the fifth string, and it is the one you will reach for most often for chords like B minor and C minor that have no open version.

Bm

B minor: the A minor shape barred at the second fret. This is the chord that makes beginners give up on the key of D, and it is just a moved A minor.

Dm

D minor as an A-minor-shape barre at the fifth fret.

And the D minor shape, small and high, on the top strings.

Gm

G minor in the D minor shape at the fifth fret — four strings, no barre, easy to slip in and out of.

The same fourth-apart relationship from lesson three holds here too. A minor chord and the minor chord a fourth above it can be played at the same fret with the two shapes: A minor as an E-minor shape at the fifth fret, D minor as an A-minor shape at the fifth fret. Two chords, one hand position.

That pairing covers an enormous amount of minor-key rhythm playing.

A soul groove in A minor. Play through it once in open position, then again using only barre shapes from the fifth fret up.