Em7 Chord on Guitar
Em7 = E – G – B – D (Root, Minor 3rd, Perfect 5th, Minor 7th)
Em7 is, remarkably, even easier than E minor: 0-2-0-0-0-0, needing just a single fretted note — the second fret of the A string — with every other string, all five of them, left completely open. It adds a flat seventh, D natural, to the E minor triad, and because that note happens to be the open D string's own pitch, the seventh arrives for free without any extra fretting at all.
Em7's character is even more relaxed and unresolved than plain E minor's already dark tone — the added seventh smooths the chord's edges and gives it a floating, ambient quality that's a staple of soft rock, folk and lo-fi acoustic writing, where a chord needs to sustain comfortably under a vocal without demanding attention. G major treats it as the sixth-degree seventh chord, functioning identically to plain Em in that role but with a rounder color, and it's equally at home as the seventh-flavored tonic of its own E minor context. Because five of its six strings are open, Em7 also has an unusually large, ringing sustain compared to almost any other chord on the guitar, open or fretted, which is exactly why it turns up so often as a closing chord left to ring out at the end of a song. Because it needs so little fretting-hand effort, it's also a popular chord for practicing vocal harmony while playing, since a singer-guitarist can hold Em7 comfortably for a long phrase without needing to think about the fretting hand at all.
Fingerings
Open Position
How to Practice It
With only one finger fretted, the entire technical challenge shifts to the strumming hand: use this chord to practice controlled dynamics, since there's nothing in the fretting hand to distract from focusing purely on how hard, fast or where you strike the strings. It's also the ideal chord for practicing hammer-ons and pull-offs with the free fingers, since three fingers are sitting completely idle and available to add quick decorative notes on the D, G or B strings without disturbing the core open-string chord underneath. With the fretting hand doing almost nothing, use Em7 to practice picking-hand arpeggio patterns across all six strings — since every string is either open or lightly fretted, this chord is unusually forgiving ground for testing new fingerstyle patterns before applying them to harder shapes. Use the chord as a metronome-free rhythm exercise: since the fretting hand needs almost no adjustment, practice varying only the strumming pattern's accents and dynamics across several repetitions without changing anything else. Because almost nothing changes physically between repeated strums, use Em7 to practice varying tone by picking closer to the bridge versus closer to the neck, hearing how much brightness or warmth that single adjustment adds.
Common Progressions
- vi7–IV–I–V in G major: Em7 – C – G – D
- i7–iv7 vamp in E minor: Em7 – Am7
- vi7 chord in G major: Gmaj7 – Em7 – Cmaj7 – D
FAQ
- Is Em7 easier than E minor?
- Yes, technically — E minor needs two fingers while Em7 needs only one, since the note that would normally require the ring finger on the D string is replaced entirely by that string's own open pitch, which happens to already be the chord's added seventh.
- Why does Em7 sound so open and ambient?
- Five of its six strings ring open, giving it an unusually large amount of natural resonance and sustain compared to more heavily fretted chords, and the added flat seventh removes some of plain E minor's directness, together producing a floating, unresolved quality.
- Can Em7 substitute for E minor in a song?
- In most contexts, yes — because it shares the same root and function (the vi chord in G major, or the i chord in E minor), substituting Em7 for Em is a common, low-risk way to add a slightly smoother color without changing the progression's underlying harmony.
- What makes Em7 a good 'ending' chord?
- Its unusually large number of open strings gives it more natural sustain than almost any other chord on the guitar, and its unresolved, floating quality avoids the sense of hard finality a plain major or minor triad gives, which is exactly the mood many songs want on a fade-out. This spare, mostly-open shape is also a good one to memorize as a fallback: on a guitar with an unusually high action or stiff strings, Em7 stays playable even when other chords start to feel like a fight.
Em7 on other instruments: Em7 on Piano, Em7 on Ukulele. Related: how chords are built, chord finder.