How to play the F# Minor chord on guitar
F#m is the minor barre shape most often met in the key of A or E. Unlike Bm, its root sits on the low E string, so it carries more low end and is the shape to reach for when a progression needs weight rather than brightness.
F# Minor is a minor triad — F#, A, C#. The flattened third is the single note that separates it from F# major, and it is the whole reason it sounds darker.
Finger it one string at a time
- low E string: fret 2 with your index finger.
- A string: fret 4 with your ring finger.
- D string: fret 4 with your pinky.
- G string: fret 2 with your index finger.
- B string: fret 2 with your index finger.
- high E string: fret 2 with your index finger.
Barre all 6 strings at the 2nd fret. Squeeze your thumb directly behind your index finger.
What makes this shape awkward
- Your index finger has to flatten across 4 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.
Where you'll use it
F#m appears in 1 of the play-along progression in RiffRoute. These are the actual sequences it sits in:
- Island Bounce (Reggae, 75 BPM) —
Bm → F#m → Bm → F#m → E
Keys it belongs to
F#m 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 F#m, these turn up alongside it most often — learning them together is more useful than learning F#m alone.
If this one is still too hard
F# 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 F#m 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.