How to play the B Minor chord on guitar
Bm is usually the first barre chord a learner genuinely needs rather than merely encounters, because the key of D — extremely common in acoustic music — demands it. The index barre sits at the second fret where string tension is still high, which is what makes it feel harder than it looks.
B Minor is a minor triad — B, D, F#. The flattened third is the single note that separates it from B major, and it is the whole reason it sounds darker.
Finger it one string at a time
- low E string: don't play it.
- A string: fret 2 with your index finger.
- D string: fret 4 with your ring finger.
- G string: fret 4 with your pinky.
- B string: fret 3 with your middle finger.
- high E string: fret 2 with your index finger.
Your first major challenge! Lay your index finger flat across the 2nd fret for the barre.
What makes this shape awkward
- Your index finger has to flatten across 2 strings at fret 2. Roll it slightly onto its side: the soft crease in the middle of the pad is where strings sink in and buzz.
- The shape spans 3 frets, so your hand has to stretch rather than sit in one position. Bring your thumb down behind the neck to open the gap between your fingers.
- 1 string stays silent, so your strumming hand has to start on the right string. Aim the pick rather than sweeping all six.
Where you'll use it
Bm appears in 2 of the play-along progressions in RiffRoute. These are the actual sequences it sits in:
- Island Bounce (Reggae, 75 BPM) —
Bm → F#m → Bm → F#m → E - Highland Mist (Celtic Folk, 84 BPM) —
Em → D → C → Bm
Keys it belongs to
Bm is diatonic to these keys, which is why it turns up in songs written in them — the bracket is the degree it plays there:
Chords it's usually played with
In the progressions that use Bm, these turn up alongside it most often — learning them together is more useful than learning Bm alone.
If this one is still too hard
B Minor is an intermediate shape. These beginner chords use a related root or quality and are worth getting clean first:
Hear it and check yourself
Reading a diagram only gets you so far — the part that decides whether Bm sounds right is whether every string rings cleanly. RiffRoute plays the chord back, listens while you strum it, and tells you which string is buzzing.