Guitarists possess an extraordinary power over emotions through the chords they choose for their pieces, particularly minor chords that create feelings of concern or switch between optimism and pessimism.
To create a minor chord, flattening the third degree of the major scale is key – and is easiest accomplished on open G fretboards.
A minor
G Minor chord is one of the lesser-used minor chords, yet its sound adds a special emotion to your playing. Used carefully, its use produces an unsettling mood which often produces unrestful results – this chord also gives songs an unexpected punch such as Keith Richard’s song “Brown Sugar”.
This chord can be more challenging to play in open G, but it’s well worth learning. To create this type of slash chord – wherein the bottom note differs from its root tone – your index finger needs to traverse all six strings with barring, unlike most bar chords where you only require the first three frets for playing it. This creates an effect known as “octave chord”.
This can be a nice way to emphasize a note in the bass, but it may not always be desired. An alternative would be forgoing this chord entirely and simply using a regular G major chord with an open low E string – this would make life much simpler with greater flexibility when shifting it around the fretboard.
B minor
The B minor chord is one of the easiest keys to learn and one of the first barre chords that beginners encounter when beginning to play music. It can help beginners play many popular songs from Edward Grieg, like In The Hall of the Mountain King or Greensleeves.
Many players opt to omit the low string from open G tuning altogether – just like Keith Richards did – and use only five strings, creating an even more minor tone while making chord changes easier to maneuver through. This produces an enhanced minor sound and allows more fluid switching between chords.
However, unlike some chords, B minor chords use a barre finger on the second fret which may prove challenging for beginners. Once familiarized, however, switching this shape to other keys by shifting its root note up or down on the neck of your guitar should prove easy; adding sevenths such as in Bmaj7 forms should also be straightforward by just moving your finger up to 12th fret.
C minor
Open G is an ideal tuning for creating minor chords, as it allows you to easily shift barre shapes up and down the fretboard to achieve different tones. Plus, adding hammer-ons and pull-offs makes for more interesting chords!
C minor chord progressions can be used in various ways to create emotive pieces of music. Popular examples are “Hotel California” by the Eagles and “Smells Like Teen Spirit” by Nirvana which utilize chords from this key to evoke feelings of melancholy or longing.
C minor chords can also be used in songs to create harmonic rhythm, employing different chords at regular intervals to add tension and build momentum, giving a piece of music an air of movement and adding drama to your songs. Plus, chords in C minor feature many diatonic chords for creating different sounds and atmospheres!
D minor
D minor chords are ideal for songs that want to sound dark and melancholic, while using different inversions of this chord family can add variety and create unique sounds.
By inverting the D minor chord into its first inversion, for instance, you’ll create a sound that is brighter and more upbeat due to the third of the chord being lower than its second note.
To play a D minor chord in open g tuning, begin by barring your index finger across the fifth fret of each of A, E, and C strings before placing your ring finger on its seventh fret – this should form the chord.
As with standard tuning, two strings remain unchanged when tuning to open G tuning; therefore, any chord structures and scale patterns you are already familiar with for those two strings should still apply when tuning open g.