Need to learn how to play the F minor chord on guitar? Check out the video lesson, chord chart, and photo below to see how to play the Fm chord with ease!
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F Minor Chord Video Lesson
How to play the F Minor guitar chord: Chart, Photo, and Description
Below are a couple of different ways you can play the Fm chord on guitar.
Option 1: The full barre
If you can play E minor, you already know this shape! F minor is the E minor shape moved up one fret, with finger 1 laid across all six strings behind it.
To play the Fm chord, place your left hand fingers on the following strings and frets:
- Index (Finger 1): Barre on all 6 strings at fret 1
- String 6 (F)
- String 3 (Ab)
- String 2 (C)
- String 1 (F)
- Ring (Finger 3): Fret 3, String 5 (C)
- Pinky (Finger 4): Fret 3, String 4 (F)
Notice you’re using fingers 3 and 4 here, instead of the 2 and 3 you use for open E minor. That’s what frees up finger 1 to make the barre.
F minor is also only one note away from the F major chord. In F major, finger 2 sits on string 3 and plays an A. Take finger 2 away and the barre plays Ab instead. That one note turns the chord minor.
It also changes how you use your barre. With F major, you can stagger the pressure so your index finger only works hard on strings 6, 2 and 1. In F minor, no other finger covers string 3, so the barre needs to sound strings 6, 3, 2 and 1. You can still ease off over strings 5 and 4, where fingers 3 and 4 are doing the work.
F minor can feel like a real challenge at first, because fret 1 is the widest fret on the guitar. That’s completely normal!
I recommend practicing this same shape at fret 5 first, where it gives you A minor, and then working your way down. My barre chord guide walks you through exactly how to do that.
Option 2: The partial barre (beginner)
If you’re a beginner, you’ll probably have more success playing F minor with a half barre at first. This covers just the top three strings.
To play this variation:
- Index (Finger 1): Partial Barre on three strings at fret 1:
- String 1 (F)
- String 2 (C)
- String 3 (Ab)
- Ring (Finger 3): Fret 3, String 5 (C)
- Pinky (Finger 4): Fret 3, String 4 (F)
- Avoid playing string 6
The F major partial barre covers only two strings, but this one needs three. That’s because string 3 is part of the barre in a minor chord.
What are the notes in an F Minor chord?
The notes of the Fm chord are:
- F (Root)
- Ab (Third)
- C (Fifth)
