CHORD REFERENCE

Em7

E – G – B – D1 b3 5 b7

The E Minor 7th chord and everything around it — the notes and how they are built, the shape on piano and guitar, the sound, and the keys it belongs to.

Notes
E1Gb3B5Db7

Em7 is E, G, B, D — the 1, b3, 5 and b7 above the root E.

Piano
EGBD
Guitar

Ways to play it

Open position
A-shape barre — 7th fret
7fr×

Guitar — every position (frets 0–12)

357912eEGBDEBBDEGBGGBDEGDDEGBDABDEGEEGBDE

Root notes are red. The shapes above are movable — an E-shape has its root on the low E string, an A-shape on the A string. any group of these notes on the neck sounds the chord.

Ukulele (standard G–C–E–A)

Movable shape
GCEA
357912ABDEGEEGBDECDEGBGGBDEG

The shape above is movable up the neck. Every position of the chord tones on the ukulele neck — any group that sounds only E, G, B, D plays the chord.

In which keys

Em7 is a diatonic chord in these keys:

iiiC majoriiD majorviG majoriE minorvA minorivB minor
Other E chords

Triads

EMajorEmMinorE5Power Chord (5)EdimDiminishedEaugAugmentedEsus2Suspended 2ndEsus4Suspended 4th

Sixths & sevenths

E6Major 6thEm6Minor 6thE7Dominant 7thEmaj7Major 7thEm(maj7)Minor–Major 7thEdim7Diminished 7thEm7♭5Half-Diminished (m7♭5)E7sus47sus4

Altered dominants

E7♭57♭5E7♯57♯5 (Augmented 7th)E7♭97♭9E7♯97♯9 (Hendrix Chord)

Extended & added

Eadd9Added 9thE6/96/9E9Dominant 9thEmaj9Major 9thEm9Minor 9thE11Dominant 11thE13Dominant 13th
Minor 7th on another root
CC♯D♭DE♭D♯EFF♯GA♭G♯AB♭A♯B
Keep exploring

Work out the chords of a whole key with the Scale & Chord Finder, name a chord from its notes with the Chord Identifier, or browse every chord tool. The theory behind how chords are built is in the free Cloud Atelier music guides.