E♭m, the E♭ minor guitar chord

E♭m is the Bm grip slid up four frets: the index barres five strings at the 6th fret, the low E stays out of the strum, and the same three fingers hold the minor shape above. It lives at the same fret as E♭: drop the note on the B string one fret and major turns minor. That dark, heavy sound belongs to ballads in flat keys. The frets are narrow this far up the neck, so crowded fingers lean over and mute their neighbors. Pick all five strings and let each one speak.

E♭m

How to play it

Index finger flattened across the A string (5th) and high E string (1st), 6th fret.
Middle finger on the B string (2nd), 7th fret.
Ring finger on the D string (4th), 8th fret.
Pinky on the G string (3rd), 8th fret.
Don't strum the low E string (6th). It stays silent in this shape.

Changes to practice

Holding E♭m still is the easy part. Songs need you to arrive at it in rhythm, so in Strumhold you practice E♭m as changes, alongside the rest of the Barres in Every Key set:

E♭m ↔ E♭ E♭ minor to E♭ major
E♭m ↔ A♭ E♭ minor to A♭ major
E♭m ↔ G♯m E♭ minor to G♯ minor
E♭m ↔ F♯ E♭ minor to F♯ major
E♭m ↔ C♯ E♭ minor to C♯ major
E♭m ↔ B♭m E♭ minor to B♭ minor
E♭m ↔ Fm E♭ minor to F minor

How to play it

Changes to practice

Same root, different color