Easy Guitar Chords For Beginners - E Minor and D Minor

In this lesson, you will learn some more easy guitar chords for beginners. You will learn how to play E Minor and D Minor chords on the guitar. Adding E minor and D minor to your chord arsenal will help you play a lot more songs.

Difference Between Major and Minor Chords

Major and Minor chords can easily be differentiated by their sound. Major chords tend to sound joyful. Minor chords tend to sound bluesy and sad. The reason behind this tonal difference is the notes that are played in major and minor chords. The formula for a major chord is 1-3-5. Whereas, the formula for a minor chord is 1-b3-5. This difference in the third interval is what makes minor chords sound so different from the major chords.

If you do not understand these formulas, it is perfectly fine. Skip it for now. Just remember that major chords sound happy, minor chords sound sad.

You will learn more about all these formulas and how chords are constructed in the Lesson 11 - Music Theory For Beginner Guitarists.

How To Play E Minor Chord

E Minor chord is one of the easiest chords to play on guitar. E Minor chord is a 6 String Chord. To Play E Minor Chord:-

1. Place your Second Finger on Second Fret, Fifth String.
2. Place your Third Finger on Second Fret, Fourth String.
3. First, Second, Third and Sixth Strings are played open.

How to practice the E Minor Chord

To practice E Minor Chord, Start at a slow tempo and play downstrokes on the first beat of every bar. Then add another downstroke at the third beat of every bar. Now you play a downstroke on the 1st and 3rd beat of every bar. After this, play a downstroke on all the four beats of a bar.

I suggest you watch the lesson video to get a better understanding of the E Minor chord exercises.

E Minor Chord — Exercise 1

Hold the E Minor chord and play downstrokes on the first beat of every bar.

E Minor Chord —  Exercise 2

Hold the E Minor chord and play downstrokes on every beat of every bar.

How To Play D Minor Chord

D Minor Chord is a 4 String Chord. To Play D Minor Chord:-

1. Place your First Finger on First Fret, First String.
2. Place your Second Finger on Second Fret, Third String.
3. Place your Third Finger on Third Fret, Second String.
4. Fourth String is played open.

Fifth and Sixth Strings are not played in D Minor Chord.

D Minor Chord Exercise 3

Hold the D Minor chord and play downstrokes on the first beat of every bar.

D Minor Chord Exercise 4

Hold the D Minor chord and play downstrokes on the first beat and third beat of every bar.

 

Is D minor Chord Difficult For Beginners?

D Minor chord is considerably difficult for beginners as you use your three fingers on three different frets. You will need to stretch your fingers to play D minor chord. If you find playing d minor chord difficult with your first three fingers, you can replace your third finger with your pinky finger to fret on the third fret, second string.

 

Easy Beginner Guitar Songs Using E Minor, D Minor- Ain't No Sunshine

Ain't No Sunshine is a song by late African-American singer-songwriter and musician Bill Withers.

The easy guitar version of the song uses Chords A Minor, E Minor and D Minor.

 To understand how to play the song, watch the video lesson.

 

Now you know how to play E Minor and D minor chords. Practice them and try playing as many songs as you can. If you have any questions or suggestions, please comment below.

 

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Beginner Guitar Lessons

• Lesson 1 — Parts Of Acoustic Guitar and Electric Guitar
• Lesson 2 — How To Hold The Guitar and Guitar Pick
• Lesson 3 — How To Tune The Guitar
• Lesson 4 — How To Read Guitar Tabs and Chord Diagram
• Lesson 5 — Easy Guitar Chords For Beginners
• Lesson 6 — D Major And G Major Chords
• Lesson 7 — A Major, B Major and E Major Chords
• Lesson 8 — E Minor & D Minor Chords
• Lesson 9 — Guitar Strumming Basics For Beginners
• Lesson 10 — How To Play F Major Chord On Guitar
• Lesson 11 — Music Theory Basics For Beginner Guitarist
• Lesson 12 — How To Play Barre Chords On Guitar
• Lesson 13 — How To Palm Mute A Guitar
• Lesson 14 — How To Learn Scales On Guitar For Beginners
• Lesson 15 – Learn Chord Formulas And Chord Inversions
• Lesson 16 – How To Know Chords In A Major Scale And Chord Progression
• Lesson 17 – Parts Of A Song And Song Structure
• Bonus Lesson – How To Write Your First Song On Acoustic Guitar