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Home ❯ Topics ❯ Barre Chords ❯

Easier Ways to Play B-minor (No Barring Required)

Lesson #431 • May 4, 2022

Video lesson

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Editor’s notes

Hey there, friends! Two quick ways to play B-minor I want to share with y’all, both of which are “open” chords and far easier to switch to than the normal Bm barre chord. One of these was sent in by Patreon supporter John, a few weeks back – and the other I just started using in the past few weeks.

Even if you are able to play Bm in the x24432 position (as I can), sometimes it’s simply preferable to use open voicings such as these. They can be easier to switch to, and also add some nice distinction to the sound of the chord (via the open E string, the minor 7th tone, etc). For each of the two voicings I show, I’ll demonstrate a real-world riff (tabs included in my attached PDF) to help you practice these in a real-world scenario.

Video timestamps:

  • 0:00 Overview
  • 0:37 Chord Shape #1
  • 2:07 …Practice Riff
  • 5:09 Chord Shape #2
  • 5:45 …Practice Riff
  • 9:17 Final Tips & Advice

Lessons I reference in this video

Harvest by Neil Young

Full song lesson (#416)

Neil Young-inspired Quick Chord Transition Exercise (#415)

Tennessee Whiskey by Chris Stapleton

Full song lesson (#331)

How to Spice up a 2-Chord Song (#191)

Practicing country blues over a backing track (A-major and B-minor) (#195)

How to Play B-minor

Lookin for a tutorial on how to play the normal x24432 version of this chord? Here’s a prior video I made. (#59)

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