Movable Minor Shapes
Slide Em up the neck to play any minor chord.
Lesson
Movable shapes are the unlock
Open chords like Em and Am have versions you can shift up the neck. Once you barre across all six strings at any fret, that fret becomes the new "open." Slide the Em shape up the neck and you can play any minor chord without learning new fingerings.
The Em shape becomes Fm, F#m, Gm…
Take your Em chord. Now add a barre across all six strings one fret below the original shape:
- Barre at fret 1 + Em shape at fret 2 = Fm
- Barre at fret 3 + Em shape at fret 4 = Gm
- Barre at fret 5 + Em shape at fret 6 = Am
- Barre at fret 7 + Em shape at fret 8 = Bm
The Am shape on the A-string root
The other movable minor shape uses the A string as the root. Take the Am open chord, barre with your first finger across strings 5–1, and slide it up. That's how Bm gets played in most rock songs without touching the low E.
Why this matters
Once you can play any major or minor chord with a movable shape, you stop memorizing dozens of fingerings and start thinking in terms of two shapes. That's the leap from "knowing chords" to "playing guitar."