Guitar tuning

Open E Minor Tuning

E·B·E·G·B·E

Tonal centre E minor Also called EBEGBE, cross-note E minor Difficulty Easy — two strings up a whole step

Open on the Canvas → Explore chords in the app

Open E minor raises the 5th string from A to B and the 4th string from D to E, and leaves everything else at standard pitch. The open strings now spell an E minor chord — E, B, E, G, B, E — so a strum with nothing fretted is Em, and a straight barre at any fret gives another minor chord.

It is the minor counterpart to Open E, and a gentler change: two strings move instead of three, and the third stays natural rather than being raised. Slide and folk players use it for the same reason they use Open D minor — a bar laid flat across the strings sounds a full minor chord anywhere — and the drone of the doubled E and B strings sits under everything you play.

How to tune to Open E Minor

From standard tuning:

6th (lowest) E — unchanged
5th A → B (up a whole step)
4th D → E (up a whole step)
3rd G — unchanged
2nd B — unchanged
1st (highest) E — unchanged

Open—Shape’s tuner listens for one string at a time and tells you which string it is and how far off — including in alternate tunings like this one.

What Open E Minor does well

A minor chord open. The open strings are Em, so the darkest common key needs no fingers to get started.
Barre-anywhere minors. Lay a finger flat across any fret for that minor chord — the whole neck is one movable shape.
A strong drone. Two E strings and two B strings ring as pedal tones under fretted notes and slides.
Only two strings move. Both go up a whole step from standard, so the retune is quick and the tuning is easy to get out of again.

Common chords in Open E Minor

Open E minor is close to standard on four strings, so many shapes still read. The grid shows the easiest voicing the engine finds for each chord; tap to browse the rest.

Em 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 of 806 → Em7 0 0 0 0 3 0 1 of 622 → Am 5 5 0 5 5 0 1 of 303 → Bm 7 0 7 7 7 7 1 of 234 → B7 x 0 2 2 4 2 1 of 272 → G 3 0 3 0 3 3 1 of 393 → C x 1 0 0 1 0 1 of 547 → D x 3 2 2 3 2 1 of 144 →

Numbers read low string to high; 0 is open, × is muted.

A progression to try

A minor i–iv–V, the mirror of an Open E progression:

Em→Am→B7→Em

Songs in Open E Minor

Blues and folk slide repertoire in a minor key
The minor counterpart to the Open E slide catalogue
Used for droning, open-string minor writing

Where you’ll hear it

Blues and folk slide players who want a minor open chord, and songwriters after a droning minor backdrop. Less common than Open E or Open D minor, but the easiest way into an open minor tuning.

Open a Open E Minor canvas — a tuning module already set, wired to a starter progression, every shape recalculated for you.

Open on the Canvas → Explore chords in the app

Open E Minor tuning FAQ

How do I tune to Open E minor?

Raise the 5th string from A up a whole step to B, and the 4th string from D up a whole step to E. Leave the 6th, 3rd, 2nd and 1st strings alone. The result is E, B, E, G, B, E from low to high.

How is Open E minor different from Open E?

Open E raises three strings and makes the open chord major. Open E minor raises only two — it leaves the 3rd string at G rather than lifting it to G# — so the open chord is minor and the retune is smaller.

Is Open E minor good for slide?

Yes. Every fret barred straight across gives a minor chord, so slide melodies and chord moves need only one hand position. It is the minor equivalent of the Open E and Open D slide tunings.

Does Open E minor put extra tension on the neck?

A little — two strings go up a whole step — but far less than Open E, which raises three. Retune gradually and check the tuning holds.

Can I use a capo in Open E minor?

Yes — a capo raises the whole minor tuning to a higher key while keeping the shapes. Open—Shape recalculates every voicing for the capo position.

Related tunings

Open D Minor Open A Minor Open G Minor Open C Minor Open E Minor 7 Open A Minor 7 Open E7 Open G Major 7