The E minor 7 chord (Em7) a E minor chord (E – G – B) with the ‘flat 7’ of the E Major scale included (D).
The minor 7 chord in general is a very common and popular chord. Along with the Major 7 and Dominant 7 chords, the minor 7 chord is one of the most common 7th chords in all of music.
The open Em7 chord (the first one in the list of Em7 chord charts below) is a go-to chord for many acoustic guitarist. Open E chords (of any chord quality) are very popular, because they generally use all of the strings. As well as this, the lowest note on the guitar is an open E note, which can feel like a sort of ‘home’ note (similar to middle C on the piano). As a result, guitarists often gravitate towards this chord when composing music.
Some Quick Em7 Chord Theory
- The E minor 7 chord contains the notes E, G, B and D.
- The Em7 chord is produced by playing the 1st (root), flat 3rd, 5th and flat 7th of the E Major scale.
- The E minor 7 chord (just like all minor 7 chords) contains the following intervals (from the root note): minor 3rd, Major 3rd, minor 3rd, Major 2nd (back to the root note).
- Em7 is an Em chord, with the flat 7th (D) included.
10 Ways To Play The E Minor 7 Chord
If you’ve come to this page just to view some chord diagrams for Em7, here they are.
Further Reading
- A guide to minor 7 chords
- E natural minor scale
- E minor 7 arpeggio
- E minor chord
- Chords page
- How guitar chords work
