Bm is the B minor chord, made of the notes B D F#. Most guitarists play it as X 2 4 4 3 2, a barre chord at fret 2. Below are all 5 ways to hold Bm on the guitar, from the lowest on the neck to the highest, and the same chord in Drop D and DADGAD. The TabTunix app plays each one. Check out our full chord library.
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Bm
X 2 4 4 3 2
Notes
Degrees: R b3 5. Notes: B D F#.
RB
b3D
5F#
Tuning
Inversions
Voicings
How to play Bm
The shape most players use is X 2 4 4 3 2, from the lowest string to the highest. Hold it like this:
Lay your index finger flat across the five strings from the A to the high E string at fret 2.
Put your ring finger on the D string at fret 4.
Put your little finger on the G string at fret 4.
Put your middle finger on the B string at fret 3.
Do not play the low E string.
Bm is a barre chord on the fifth string: the barre starts on the A string, and the low E string is not played.
Bm
X 2 4 4 3 2
5 ways to play Bm
Every shape the chord library holds for Bm in standard tuning, from low on the neck to high. In each one B is the lowest note; they differ in where your hand sits and in which strings ring.
Of Bm's own shapes, X 2 0 4 0 2 needs the fewest fingers: three, where the first needs four. It is an open shape.
Bm6, held as X 2 0 1 0 2, often stands in for Bm. It needs no barre and three fingers. It is a different chord: it adds G# to B, D and F#, so it sounds close to Bm but not the same.
A chord is yours when you can change to it in time. In TabTunix, put Bm and the chord before it into a chord-change exercise, set a target tempo, and play the change to a click that counts you through it. Rate each take, and the app keeps your best tempo, so you see it climb.
B, D and F#. As degrees they are R b3 5: the root, the minor third and the fifth.
Yes. In the shape most players use, X 2 4 4 3 2, your index finger lies across the five strings from the A to the high E string at fret 2. Without a barre you can hold it as X 2 0 4 0 2, an open shape.
Bm6, held as X 2 0 1 0 2, often stands in for Bm. It is a different chord: it adds G# to B, D and F#, and it needs no barre.
Bm is vi in D major, iii in G major and ii in A major, and it belongs to 3 more keys, listed above.
In Drop D you hold Bm as in Standard: X 2 4 4 3 2.