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The Em7 chord

The Em7 chord is the neo-soul minor. Its notes (E - G - B - D) form a minor seventh, which is why it shows up across modern R&B and cocktail jazz. Songwriters pick the Em7 when they want a Steely Dan-style verse, and on guitar it sits easily under standard open chord shapes. Open Em7 is one of the easiest grips on a guitar, and a Britpop favourite. The voicings, theory, progressions and song references that follow are organised so you can skim once or settle in for the full picture.

Hear the Em7 in the chord builder →

Voicings for Em7

Common ways to grip the Em7 on guitar and piano. Guitar diagrams read low E to high E left-to-right; an × means muted, an open circle above the nut means an open string. Filled dots are fretted notes.

Guitar , full chord shapes

CAGED-derived voicings for Em7 across the neck. Pick the shape closest to where your hand already sits.

Guitar: Em7 shape at fr.2

Notes: E - G - B - D (chord tones)

Guitar: Am7 shape at fr.7

Notes: E - G - B - D (chord tones)

Guitar: Dm7 shape at fr.2

Notes: E - G - B - D (chord tones)

Guitar: Gm7 shape (movable) at fr.12

Notes: E - G - B - D (chord tones)

Guitar: top-4 voicing

Notes: E - G - B - D (chord tones)

Guitar: high top-4 voicing

Notes: E - G - B - D (chord tones)

Guitar , triad shapes

Three-note voicings on three adjacent strings. Light textures for arpeggios, pop layering and chord-melody work.

Triad: top-string triad

Notes: 3-note voicing on adjacent strings

Triad: middle-string triad

Notes: 3-note voicing on adjacent strings

Triad: bass-side triad

Notes: 3-note voicing on adjacent strings

Piano voicings

Root position and inversions. The bass note matters: each inversion changes how the chord sits under a melody.

Piano: root position

Notes: E - G - B - D. Root E at the bottom. The classic stacked-thirds spelling of a minor seventh.

Piano: first inversion

Notes: G - B - D - E. G at the bottom. Common in chord-melody, walking bass lines and gentler voicings.

Piano: second inversion

Notes: B - D - E - G. B at the bottom. A floating, suspended feel often used in hymns and ballads.

Piano: third inversion

Notes: D - E - G - B. D at the bottom. The seventh in the bass , a smooth jazz favourite.

The theory behind Em7

Spell out the Em7 and you get E - G - B - D. The intervals from the root are root, minor third, perfect fifth, minor seventh, which is the recipe for a minor seventh. In a closely related major key the chord plays the role of passing chord; in a closely related major key it shows up as passing chord. Its preferred next move is walk into a dominant seventh a fifth above, which is what makes it useful in jazz standards and neo-soul.

Progressions that use Em7

Short progressions that put the Em7 to work. Each one is shown in a different key so you can pick the one that suits your singer.

i→iv→V key of A minor

Em7 (as passing colour)

This chord appears as a borrowed or passing chord in many minor-key progressions.

→ Build this in the chord builder

Songs that feature Em7

Real records where this chord does structural work. No lyrics quoted, just the title and artist so you can pull up a copy and hear it in context.

Wonderwall by Oasis. Em7 colour throughout the verse.
Champagne Supernova by Oasis. Em7 in the opening voicing.
Crash Into Me by Dave Matthews Band. Em7 within the song's chord palette.

Related chords

Chords a step away from the Em7 in the songwriting circle, the natural neighbours when you want a substitution.

TriadE DomE7 NeighbourB NeighbourBm NeighbourB7 NeighbourA NeighbourAm NeighbourA7

Keys where Em7 lives

The keys where this chord turns up diatonically. Open any key page for the full set of progressions that lean on it.

C major A minor

More songwriting tools

Got the chord but still wrestling with the lyric? Find the right rhyme in RhymeForge, or break a writer's block with the unexpected word-pair generator in CollisionLab. Need to map a full progression? The chord builder on the home page is where the Em7 fits into context. All free, no signup.

About the chord builder

The Undercover Zest chord progression builder is a free interactive tool that maps every diatonic and borrowed chord in every key. Click a Roman numeral to hear it, drag chords into a progression, then audition voicings, inversions and tensions until the song clicks.

This page is a static reference for the Em7. For interactive playback, voice-leading hints and substitution suggestions, open the chord builder above.