Ukulele · minor
Bm Chord on Ukulele
B Minor is B, D, F# — the 1-b3-5 pattern of a minor chord. There are 3 ways to play it on ukulele, ranked below from easiest to hardest.
There is no open Bm shape on ukulele — every version sits up the neck. The one marked “Gm Shape (movable) (4th fret)” below is the friendliest grip, so start there.
The shape most players use — Standard Barre
Barre at fret 2 — harder to hold than an open shape, but movable: slide it and you have every other minor chord.
Every way to play it — 3 shapes, easiest first
Same chord in all of them. What changes is how much your hand has to do and where on the neck it sits.
Gm Shape (movable) (4th fret) Way 1 of 3
Gm Shape (movable) (4th fret)
Easiest here· intermediate
Fingered low on the neck with no barre — a useful middle step between the open shape and the movable ones.
Standard Barre Way 2 of 3
Standard Barre
intermediate· the standard shape
Barre at fret 2 — harder to hold than an open shape, but movable: slide it and you have every other minor chord.
Alternative Way 3 of 3
Alternative
intermediate
Barre at fret 2 — harder to hold than an open shape, but movable: slide it and you have every other minor chord.
What beginners get wrong
Moving in and out of it
Songs that turn on this chord
- Wish You Were HerePink Floydverse
- Hotel CaliforniaEaglesverse — opening
- What A Beautiful NameHillsong Worshipverse — the vi chord
- Hotel CaliforniaEaglesverse — opening chord
- Tennessee WhiskeyChris Stapletonverse — the ii chord
Bm on other instruments
Same notes, different hands. Every link below is a real page with diagrams and audio.
Chords next door
Same root, different colour — and all of them playable on ukulele.
Bm on Ukulele — questions people ask
What is the easiest way to play Bm on ukulele?
“Gm Shape (movable) (4th fret)” — which we rate intermediate — is the easiest Bm shape on ukulele. Fingered low on the neck with no barre — a useful middle step between the open shape and the movable ones. There is no open Bm on ukulele, so a barre is unavoidable; this is the least demanding one.
What notes are in the B Minor chord?
B Minor is B, D, F# — the 1-b3-5 interval pattern of a minor chord. Every voicing on this page uses those notes and nothing else; they just appear in a different order and octave.
How many ways can you play Bm on ukulele?
This page has 3 Bm voicings for ukulele, ranked from easiest to hardest: Gm Shape (movable) (4th fret), Standard Barre, Alternative. They all sound like Bm; the differences are how hard they are to hold and how high they sit.
What can I play instead of Bm?
The nearest stand-ins on ukulele that keep the same root are B5, Bsus4, Bsus2. They keep the root and the fifth and only change what sits in the middle, so most songs still work — but check the swap against the melody, because the note you removed may be the one the tune is singing.
Can I play Bm on other instruments?
Yes. Bm is the same set of notes everywhere; only the fingering changes. This site has diagrams and audio for it on guitar, piano, bass, mandolin, banjo.
Learn the theory behind Bm
The shape gets your fingers there. These explain why it sounds the way it does.
Barre Chords — The Wall Every Guitarist Climbs
This one asks for a barre. The article is the fix for the buzzing and the aching hand.
7 min read
Major and Minor Scales — Built from Intervals, Felt in Songs
The flat third is the whole difference between this chord and its major twin.
5 min read
Key Signatures: Read Any Key in Two Seconds
Which keys this chord belongs to, and how to read the sharps and flats.
6 min read