Minor 7th chords (m7)

To create a "minor seventh" (m7), you have to add a minor 7th to a minor chord. In Cm7 this is Bb …not B — the major 7th (maj7), which is much less common with minor chords.

Rather than going up 7 (scale) steps in the minor scale, you can count down a whole step (or two half steps): C → B → Bb

Chord symbols for minor seventh chords

• An m after the root indicates "minor";
  the 7 indicates a minor 7th, e.g., Em7, Bbm7.
• Instead of m you’ll often find a minus sign, e.g., E-7, Bb-7, etc.

To turn Em into Em7, find a root E and lower it by two frets to D (the minor 7th).

Each fret on the guitar’s fretboard represents a half step.

Drag the slider under the chord diagram to the right to change Em to Em7. Also, toggle the diagram spots between notes and intervals and watch how the shape changes.

Another way to get a 7th is to raise a 5th (5) by 3 frets (half steps).

Using both methods, our Em ends up with two 7ths—sounds great!

If the shape contains only one 5th you can still raise it; omitting the 5th is fine in a 7th chord (not for chords with b5 or #5). Root, 3rd and 7th define the chord’s character.

Same for Am. It's possible to lower the A on the G string by two frets. The open G string is A’s minor 7th.

...and here we also raise the 5th by three frets (half steps).

That way Dm becomes Dm7.

Raising the 5th to get a 7th makes less sense here.

I’d recommend playing Dm7 as a barre chord. At the 5th fret you’ll find a shape equivalent to the Am7 we discussed above.

Here (as before with Em7 and Am7) you can replace the 5th on the high E string with the 7th located three frets higher.

Move this shape along the guitar’s fretboard to get other minor 7th chords, e.g., Cm7 (two frets lower), Ebm7 (one fret higher), etc.

Handle the Gm barre chord like the Em at the start—just 3 frets higher (3rd/III fret).

Here’s an example of a Gm7 with the 7th voiced twice. It sounds great and is comfortable to play.

More chord shapes

There are quite a few different shapes for minor 7th chords. The root doesn’t always need to be the lowest note — for instance if another instrument (bass, piano) plays the bass note, or if you use multiple shapes of the same chord within a bar to make the accompaniment livelier.

This lesson is not intended for showing all possibilities. The construction of minor seventh chords should be clear by now. The chord finder shows more m7 chord shapes - you can also fiddle out others by yourself with the help of the analyzer function!