BeginnerMinor

Em Chord

The Em is a minor chord that sounds darker, more melancholic, and expressive. Minor chords add emotional depth and drama. The lowered third gives them their characteristic bittersweet quality, making them essential for blues, rock, and emotional ballads.

Notes:ERoot (1)GMinor 3rd (b3)BPerfect 5th (5)

Open Position

Em23

Chord Diagrams

Open Position

No barre required

Em23

Open Position (Alt)

Alternative voicing

Em234

How to Play Em

Follow these steps for the open position fingering:

#StringInstructionNote
1Low E (6th string)○Open, play the open stringE
2A (5th string)●Fret 2 with your middle fingerG
3D (4th string)●Fret 2 with your ring fingerB
4G (3rd string)○Open, play the open stringE
5B (2nd string)○Open, play the open stringG
6High E (1st string)○Open, play the open stringB

○ = Open string (no fingers needed)

✕ = Muted string (don't play)

● = Press your finger down firmly just behind the fret

Notes in Em

The Em chord is built from 3 distinct notes, each serving a harmonic role:

E
Root (1)
The root, gives the chord its name
G
Minor 3rd (b3)
The minor third, creates the darker sound
B
Perfect 5th (5)
The fifth, adds power and stability

Songs Using Em

These songs from our play-along library feature the Em chord:

Your Idol

Saja Boys

intermediate

seasons

wave to earth

advanced

Here Comes the Sun

The Beatles

intermediate

Nothing Else Matters

Metallica

intermediate

Brown Eyed Girl

Van Morrison

beginner

Heart of Gold

Neil Young

beginner

Antidote

Karan Aujla

advanced

Hotel California

Eagles

intermediate

A Horse with No Name

America

beginner

Yesterday

The Beatles

intermediate

Strangers

Kenya Grace

beginner

In A Minute

Lil Baby

beginner

Wish You Were Here

Pink Floyd

beginner

Redemption Song

Bob Marley

beginner

More Than a Feeling

Boston

intermediate

Hey Joe

Jimi Hendrix

beginner

Ghostbusters

Ray Parker Jr.

intermediate

Monster Mash

Bobby "Boris" Pickett

intermediate

Paint It, Black

The Rolling Stones

advanced

KATSEYE (캣츠아이) "PINKY UP" Official MV

HYBE LABELS

advanced

Kesariya

Arijit Singh

beginner

Spooky, Scary Skeletons (Undead Tombstone Remix)

Andrew Gold

intermediate

Dance The Night

Dua Lipa

intermediate

Thinking Out Loud

Ed Sheeran

beginner

Wonderful Tonight

Eric Clapton

beginner

Fat Lip

Sum 41

intermediate

Zombie

The Cranberries

beginner

Disturbia

Rihanna

intermediate

broken

lovelytheband

beginner

Psycho Killer

Talking Heads

intermediate

The Days (Notion Remix)

CHRYSTAL

beginner

Patient Zero

Taylor Swift

beginner

Galliyan

Ankit Tiwari

intermediate

expectations

Olivia Rodrigo & Chappell Roan

intermediate

Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)

The Beatles

beginner

Stop Waiting

Cigarettes After Sex

intermediate

Play On

Unknown

beginner

Magic Man

Heart

intermediate

LIKE ME

Future feat. 42 Dugg & Lil Baby

intermediate

Rebel Yell

Billy Idol

intermediate

PUSH 2 START

Tyla

beginner

Dil Diyan Gallan

Atif Aslam

intermediate

BIRDS OF A FEATHER

Billie Eilish

beginner

Wicked Games

The Weeknd

advanced

Zaroorat

Mustafa Zahid

intermediate

Best Day Of My Life (Acoustic)

American Authors

beginner

All I Want for Christmas Is You

Mariah Carey

advanced

Ik Vaari Aa

Arijit Singh

advanced

Marvins Room

Drake

beginner

Flowers

Miley Cyrus

intermediate

Rock That Body

Black Eyed Peas

advanced

What You Saying

Lil Uzi Vert

beginner

Easy Lover

Miley Cyrus

beginner

Tujhe Bhula Diya

Mohit Chauhan

intermediate

Hallelujah

Leonard Cohen

intermediate

Akele hain to kya gum hai

Alka Yagnik,Udit Narayan

intermediate

I Was Made For Lovin' You

Kiss

advanced

Could you Be Loved

Bob Marley

intermediate

Espresso

Sabrina Carpenter

intermediate

Madwoman

Laufey

advanced

I'm Eighteen

Alice Cooper

beginner

Tere Bin

Atif Aslam

beginner

American Pie

Don Mclean

beginner

Ordinary

Alex Warren

beginner

(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction

The Rolling Stones

beginner

Something In The Orange

Zach Bryan

beginner

Perfect Strangers

Deep Purple

intermediate

Beds Are Burning

Midnight Oil

intermediate

Back In Black

AC/DC

intermediate

Mishri

Anuv Jain

beginner

Kryptonite

3 Doors Down

intermediate

Time After Time

Cyndi Lauper

advanced

Here I Go Again

Whitesnake

beginner

Long Cool Woman (In a Black Dress)

The Hollies

intermediate

Samjho Na

Aditya Rikhari

beginner

Count on Me

Bruno Mars

beginner

Let Her Go

Passenger

beginner

Sunday Morning

Maroon 5

intermediate

Risk It All

Bruno Mars

advanced

Tujhe Kitna Chahne Lage

Arijit Singh

intermediate

Golden

HUNTR/X

intermediate

Bekhayali

Unknown

intermediate

Tonight Tonight

Hot Chelle Rae

beginner

Tom Sawyer

Rush

intermediate

Xanadu

Rush

advanced

Whole Lotta Love

Led Zeppelin

beginner

Barracuda

Heart

intermediate

Welcome to the Black Parade

My Chemical Romance

advanced

Gerua

Arijit Singh

intermediate

Panic in Detroit

David Bowie

intermediate

Free Bird

Lynyrd Skynyrd

intermediate

Guess feat. billie eilish

Charli xcx

intermediate

Dead Fresh

Lil Baby

beginner

Winning Speech

Karan Aujla, MXRCI

intermediate

Sweet Melody

Little Mix

advanced

LUNCH

Billie Eilish

intermediate

Goo Goo Dolls - Iris

Unknown

beginner

Physical

Dua Lipa

intermediate

My Love Mine All Mine

Mitski

intermediate

Not Like Us

Kendrick Lamar

intermediate

Busy Woman

Sabrina Carpenter

beginner

Bol Do Na Zara

Armaan Malik

intermediate

New Religion

Bebe Rexha & Faithless

intermediate

Livin' On A Prayer

Bon Jovi

advanced

Lover

Diljit Dosanjh

intermediate

Please Please Please

Sabrina Carpenter

advanced

Dude Looks Like A Lady

Aerosmith

intermediate

DENIAL IS A RIVER

Doechii

intermediate

Venus

Shocking Blue

intermediate

Rock of Ages

Def Leppard

intermediate

Demons

Imagine Dragons

advanced

Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)

Green Day

beginner

Iktara

Kavita Seth

beginner

Losing My Religion

R.E.M.

intermediate

Escape (The Pina Colada Song)

Rupert Holmes

beginner

luther

Kendrick Lamar

intermediate

Snooze

SZA

beginner

Nain Matakka

Dhee, Diljit Dosanjh, Thaman S, Irshad Kamil

intermediate

Wild Thing

The Troggs

beginner

Justin Bieber - Beauty And A Beat ft. Nicki Minaj

Unknown

intermediate

Come As You Are

Nirvana

intermediate

Opalite

Taylor Swift

intermediate

Mere Rashke Qamar

Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan

beginner

CHANEL

Tyla

intermediate

tv off

Kendrick Lamar

advanced

Tears in Heaven

Eric Clapton

advanced

Wrecking Ball

Mother Mother

intermediate

Saiyaara Reprise - Female | Ahaan, Aneet | Tanishk, Faheem, Arslan | Shreya | Irshad

YRF

beginner

Teri Deewani

Kailash Kher

beginner

Banana Pancakes

Jack Johnson

beginner

Enter Sandman

Metallica

intermediate

Love Me Not

Ravyn Lenae

beginner

Zara Zara

Bombay Jayashri

intermediate

Timeless

The Weeknd & Playboi Carti

beginner

Comfortably Numb

Pink Floyd

intermediate

Mann Bharrya

B Praak

intermediate

Hawayein

Arijit Singh

beginner

Indigo

Sam Barber feat. Avery Anna

beginner

Carry On Wayward Son

Kansas

intermediate

Aperture

Harry Styles

beginner

Footloose

Kenny Loggins

advanced

Guess featuring billie eilish

Charli xcx

intermediate

Somewhere Over the Rainbow

Israel Kamakawiwoʻole

beginner

Bad Habits

Ed Sheeran

intermediate

Tu Jaane Na

Atif Aslam

intermediate

Take Me to Church

Hozier

beginner

THE GREATEST

Billie Eilish

beginner

Blackbird

The Beatles

advanced

Good Luck, Babe!

Chappell Roan

intermediate

Staying

Lizzy McAlpine

intermediate

Seven Nation Army

The White Stripes

intermediate

Mary Jane's Last Dance

Tom Petty

advanced

BbY WOW

KAROL G, Judeline, & rusowsky

intermediate

W Sound 05 "LA PLENA" - Beéle, Westcol, Ovy On The Drums

W Sound

intermediate

Huntrix

Unknown

beginner

Aerosmith Walk This Way

Aerosmith

intermediate

"Your Idol" | Official Song Clip | KPop Demon Hunters | Sony Animation

Sony Pictures Animation

intermediate

Somedays

Sonny Fodera, Jazzy, D.O.D

beginner

I Thought I Saw Your Face Today

She & Him

advanced

DYNAMITE

Tyla x Wizkid

intermediate

Tweeter and the Monkey Man

Headstones

beginner

Porter Block - Gi

Unknown

intermediate

A Night To Remember

beabadoobee, Laufey

advanced

Sign of the Gypsy Queen

April Wine

intermediate

SHE DID IT AGAIN ft. Zara Larsson

Tyla

intermediate

So Easy (To Fall In Love)

Olivia Dean

advanced

Urn

Crying City

intermediate

Other E Chords

Explore other chord types built on the same root note:

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