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More Easy Minor Chord Shapes everyone should learn on Guitar (simple, easy and fun)

By Mike Hayes | June 1, 2010

Most guitar players know how to play chords like “D” and “G” but
how about “Dm” and “Gm”? Before you go reaching for a difficult
bar chord or some chord with an impossible stretch take a look at
these tasty alternative ways to play minor chords.

When searching for new and easy ways to play chords a good place
to start is with a chord shape of the same name (preferably one that you already know) e.g., if I wanted to create an easy “Dm” shape I could start with a “D” chord shape that I already know.

By knowing the names of the notes in a chord it makes it a breeze
to modify your existing chord to create the chord you desire.

Here goes …

Starting with “D” I’ll convert it over to a easy “Dm”.

The notes in “D” chord are D-F#-A

D

–2—
–3—
–2—
–0—
–x—
–x—

The notes in “Dm” chord are D-F-A

By changing the F# note in the “D” chord to an F note I arrive at
the follow shape.

Dm

–1—
–3—
–2—
–0—
–x—
–x—

Important: notice how I have indicated both the “D” and “Dm” as a
four string chord this is very important as many guitar chord
books have it documented as a five string chord, while technically speaking the “D” and “Dm” chords can be played as either four or five string chords you will notice how much clearer and more defined (not to mention professional) your chords will sound if you play the four string versions.

Here are a few more “Dm” chords for you to try; see which ones you like and add them to your collection, personally I never throw a chord away there’s always a song that needs a particular sound so the more ’sounds’ you know the better!

Dm

–5—
–6—
–7—
–7—
–x—
–x—

Dm

–5—
–6—
–7—
–0—
–x—
–x—

This next chord is great if you want to finish a song on a “Dm”
chord.

Dm

–10–
–10–
–10–
–0—
–x—
–x—

Moving on to another common chord this time we will convert the
“G” major chord over to “Gm”

Grab your picks!

The notes in “G” chord are G-B-D

G

–3—
–3—
–0—
–0—
–2—
–3—

The notes in “Gm” chord are G-Bb-D

By changing the B note in the “G” chord to an Bb note I arrive at
the follow shape.

Gm

–3—
–3—
–3—
–x—
–x—
–x—

I could have tried to play the “Gm” like this:

Gm

–3—
–3—
–0—
–0—
–1—
–3—

But it might be a little bit difficult to play so I simply whet
to work on my options, like this:

Step 1: I looked for an easier (smaller) “G” chord shape and
found that if I played the first four strings of our original “G”
shape I had a good place to start.

G
–3—
–3—
–0—
–0—
–x—
–x—

Step 2: My problem with this particular shape is that there isn’t
any “B” note to flatten; not to worry, by thinking outside the
normal guitar shapes I discovered there is a “B” note on the third string, fourth fret; now if I flattened that particular
note I would arrive at an easy “G” minor shape

Gm
–3—
–3—
–3—
–0—
–x—
–x—

This same chord shape could be modified further by omitting the four string open as the note (fourth string, note “D”) is duplicated elsewhere in the chord shape (second string, third
fret).

Alternative three string “Gm” shape

Gm
–3—
–3—
–3—
–x—
–x—
–x—

Some more “Gm” shapes to try

Gm
–6—
–8—
–7—
–x—
–x—
–x—

Gm
–10–
–11–
–12–
–x—
–x—
–x—

To round off our quick look at easy minor chord shapes I’ll
finish with a few “Fm” chord shapes; notice how these are the
same shapes as “Gm” only moved back (lower) by two frets!

The notes in “Fm” chord are F-Ab-C

Fm
–1—
–1—
–1—
–x—
–x—
–x—

Fm
–4—
–6—
–5–
–x—
–x—
–x—

and one more for good measure!

Fm
–8—
–9—
–10–
–x—
–x—
–x—

Remember this is just the beginning of your chord playing always
keep a eye and ear out for interesting sounds on your guitar.

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