Chords in the Key of E Minor

What are the chords in E minor?

Take the E minor scale — E F# G A B C D — and build a chord on each note by stacking every other scale note on top of it. Those seven chords are the chords in the key:

• Em — i, minor, built on E
• F#dim — ii°, diminished, built on F#
• G — III, major, built on G
• Am — iv, minor, built on A
• Bm — v, minor, built on B
• C — VI, major, built on C
• D — VII, major, built on D

The pattern of qualities is the same in every minor key — only the letters change. Learn the numerals and you can find the chords of any key in seconds.

Which chords to play first

Em, Am and Bm — the i, iv and v — carry most songs in E minor. Add C (the VI) and D (the VII) for the classic minor-key turnaround.

• Bittersweet Loop — 6m–4–1–5 — Em – C – G – D. Heard in Zombie, Numb.
• Andalusian Cadence — 6m–5–4–3 — Em – D – C – B. Heard in Hit the Road Jack, Stray Cat Strut.
• Dorian Vamp — 6m–2 — Em – A. Heard in Oye Como Va, Evil Ways.

The same chords as 7ths

Stack one more third on each and you get the seventh chords of E minor: Em7, F#m7♭5, Gmaj7, Am7, Bm7, Cmaj7, D7. Same roots, same function, a jazz and soul colour. The v as a dominant seventh (Bm7) is the one that pulls hardest back to Em.

E minor and G major share every chord

G major uses the same seven notes as E minor, so it has the same seven chords — the relative major. What changes is which chord is home: Em in E minor, G in G major. A song can drift between the two without changing a single chord shape.

• The chords of G major, with their own numerals
• The E minor scale on the neck

How to practice the chords of E minor

1. Play Em – Am – Bm – Em slowly, one strum per chord, until the changes are clean.
2. Open the chord builder in this key and turn on Smooth Voice Leading — it re-fingers each change so your hand barely moves.
3. Then play the scale over the chords. Every note of E minor fits every chord above, which is why the scale and the key are the same thing seen from two sides.