How to Play Minor Guitar Chords

How to Play Minor Guitar Chords GuitarLessons.com, the number one name in guitar lessons online Welcome to GuitarLessons.com, in this lesson we’re going to learn how minor chords are made. So let’s get a minor triad on the fret board, I’ll show you the shape and then I’ll explain to you how that triad is made. Take your pinky put on the 7th fret of you’re a string, middle finger on the 5th fret of your D string. Then finally your index finger is going to grab the 4th fret of your G string. I’ll play all three of those notes together. [Demonstration] That’s just a regular minor triad that’s actually and E minor triad because of root is on the E note here on the 7th fret with our pinky. Now if you know how to make a major triad, this is going to be really easy for you because all we’re doing is lowering one note change in one note and that note is the 3rd of the chord. So if you have a major triad and E, A G# and a B, all we would have to do to make this chord minor, is take the 3rd the G# and lower at one note. So from the 6th fret right here when you lower this note down to a G on the 5th fret. [Demonstration] So that changes our 3rd so like if we’re stock in 3rd is like we’re making a regular major triad we would have a major 3rd on the bottom and a minor 3rd on top. Minor triads are the exact opposite. We’re going to have to have a minor 3rd on the bottom. [Demonstration] And a major 3rd on top. [Demonstration] So that motion of lowering that 3rd can uplift flops the intervals or the 3rds from being a major 3rd on the bottom. The minor 3rd on top for a major triad is being a minor 3rd on the bottom in a major 3rd on top for a minor triad. So basically if you’re playing an Em chord standard regular old Em chord all you’re doing is playing all 6 strings with E’s, G’s, and B’s on— [Demonstration] So, good exercise for this lesson and will be to go find as many E’s, G’s and B’s as you could on the fret board and start trying to come up with your own Em chords and then change the key try to do a Gm or the B if you like.