B Minor Guitar Chord
B minor opens here as x24432, the A minor shape barred at the second fret: the index finger lies flat across five strings while the middle, ring and little fingers make the A minor shape above it. It is one of the most searched chords on the guitar, because it belongs to the keys of D and G, two of the guitar's home keys, and because it is usually the first barre a player cannot avoid. Two easier ways sit beside it. Bm easy, xx4432, plays only the top four strings, so the index presses one string instead of five and the chord is still B, D and F#. Bm7, x20202, needs no barre at all: three fingers at the second fret with the open D and B strings ringing. Every diagram names the notes it sounds, worked out from the open strings rather than copied from a list, so you can see what each shortcut keeps and what it adds.
B minor · x24432
notes B F# B D F#
lowest note B on string 5
moveable shape, frets 2 to 4, 5 strings sounding, 1 muted
B major with one note moved: the A minor shape barred at the second fret.
Common questions
- How do you play a B minor chord on guitar?
- The full shape is x24432, read from the sixth string: leave the sixth string out, then the fifth string at the second fret, the fourth and third at the fourth fret, the second at the third fret and the first at the second fret. The index finger lies flat across the second fret from the fifth string to the first, the middle finger takes the second string at the third fret, and the ring and little fingers take the fourth and third strings at the fourth. The notes that come out are B F# B D F#: the root twice, the fifth twice and the minor third once. Written as guitar tab, first string on the top line, it is the column 2, 3, 4, 4, 2 with the sixth string left out.
- What is the easiest way to play B minor?
- Two shapes on this chart avoid the full barre. Bm easy, xx4432, is the top four strings of the barre shape: the index presses only the first string at the second fret, the middle finger the second string at the third, and the ring and little fingers the fourth and third strings at the fourth. It sounds F# B D F#, so it is still a full B minor, only without the low B. Bm7, x20202, needs no barre at all and sounds B D A B F#: it adds an A, which is what the 7 means, and in many songs that extra note sits comfortably. If a song needs plain B minor and the barre will not ring yet, the four-string shape is the honest substitute.
- Is Bm the same chord as B minor?
- Yes. Bm, B min and B minor are three ways of writing one chord: the notes B, D and F#. The m is short for minor. B minor differs from B major by one note, D instead of D#, and on the chart that is one string moved by one fret: the second string sits at the third fret in x24432 and at the fourth in B major's x24442. Everything else, the barre and the other three fingers, stays where it is, which is why the two chords are usually learned together.
- Why does my B minor chord buzz?
- Usually because one string under the barre is not pressed hard enough, most often the first string, which only the index finger holds. Roll the index slightly onto its side, the edge nearer the thumb, so a straighter part of the finger meets the strings, and keep it close behind the second fret wire rather than in the middle of the fret. Put the thumb behind the neck roughly opposite the middle finger. Then play the strings one at a time to find the one that buzzes, and adjust only that. While the hand builds up, the four-string Bm easy shape on this chart gives the same chord without the barre.
- What other B chords are on the chart?
- The page opens on the B and B♭ set, so every B and B flat shape is a tap away: B major and its easier shapes, Bm7, Bmaj7, Bsus4, B diminished, B♭ minor and the slash chords with B in their names. D/B, x20232, sounds B D A D F#, which are the same four notes as Bm7 in a different order, so a song that asks for one can usually take the other. Each diagram shows its own fingering and the notes it sounds, worked out from the open strings, so you can compare them string by string.
Every diagram is a named fingering with its own frets, fingers and muted strings, and the note names under it are computed from standard tuning. It cannot know your tuning or the reach of your hand, and a chord has more than one shape: these are the common ones, not the only ones.