Bm7 Guitar Chord | 15 Best Ways to Play (with Charts)
Bm7 Guitar Chord: Everything You Need to Know
Mix a "B," "D," "F#," and "A" together, and you'll have yourself a Bm7 chord. On the piano, this is normally a straightforward task, but on the guitar, Bm7 proves to be a bit trickier -- especially for newer players.
You'll need a solid barre to pull off the most common variations, and even if you're trying to do this particular chord the "easy" way, you'll need to be able to stretch your fingers and mute a few strings in the process, so today we're going to highlight the many ways in which you can form this important chord, along with a few tips that will have you sounding your best.
How to Play the Bm7 Guitar Chord
A lot of the main Bm7 voicings are barre chords, concentrated on the 7th fret. There are at least six ways you can approach the chord here:
Use your 1st finger to bar the strings at the 7th fret
Place your 2nd finger on the 5th string/9th fret
Place your 3rd finger on the 4th string/9th fret
Place your 4th finger on the 2nd string/10th fret
Bm7 Guitar Chord Barre #2
Use your 1st finger to bar the strings at the 7th fret
Place your 2nd finger on the 5th string/9th fret
Place your 3rd finger on the 2nd string/10th fret
Place your 4th finger on the 1st string/10th fret
Bm7 Guitar Chord Barre #3
Use your 1st finger to bar the strings at the 7th fret
Place your 3rd finger on the 5th string/9th fret
Place your 4th finger on the 2nd string/10th fret
Bm7 Guitar Chord Barre #4
Use your 1st finger to bar the strings at the 7th fret
Place your 3rd finger on the 5th string/9th fret
Place your 4th finger on the 1st string/10th fret
Bm7 Guitar Chord Barre #5
Use your 1st finger to bar the strings at the 7th fret
Place your 3rd finger on the 5th string/9th fret
Bm7 Guitar Chord Barre #6
Use your 1st finger to bar the strings at the 7th fret
Mute strings 5 and 6
Bm7 Guitar Chord Barre #7
Now, these subtle variations will each yield slightly different sounds, so be sure to experiment with each of them to learn which situations they'll best fit. You have plenty of options with just these five voicings, but there's one more barre variation you can try that's on the 2nd fret:
Use your 1st finger to bar the strings at the 2nd fret
Place your 2nd finger on the 2nd string/3rd fret
Place your 3rd finger on the 4th string/4th fret
Mute string 6
Bm7 Guitar Chord Non-Barre
If you want to stay on the 7th fret without using the barre method, you still have one more variation available to you:
Place your 1st finger on the 6th string/7th fret
Place your 2nd finger on the 4th string/7th fret
Place your 3rd finger on the 3rd string/7th fret
Place your 4th finger on the 2nd string/7th fret
Mute strings 1 and 5
Bm7 Guitar Chord Alternate #1
Of course, it might not always be feasible to play Bm7 on the 7th fret, in which case you'll need to utilize one of your options closer to the head of your guitar:
Place your 1st finger on the 5th string/2nd fret
Place your 2nd finger on the 3rd string/2nd fret
Place your 3rd finger on the 1st string/2nd fret
Place your 4th finger on the 2nd string/3rd fret
Play string 4 open
Mute string 6
Bm7 Guitar Chord Alternate #2
Place your 1st finger on the 5th string/2nd fret
Place your 2nd finger on the 3rd string/2nd fret
Place your 3rd finger on the 1st string/2nd fret
Place your 4th finger on the 2nd string/3rd fret
Mute strings 4 and 6
Bm7 Guitar Chord Advanced
Now, these next two voicings are rather tricky, and will require some expert stretching and string muting to pull off correctly. Make sure you start these slowly, work carefully to get the correct fingering, and check your sound to ensure you're getting that Bm7 sound right each and every time you form the shapes:
Place your 1st finger on the 4th string/4th fret
Place your 3rd finger on the 6th string/7th fret
Place your 4th finger on the 3rd string/7th fret
Play string 5 open
Mute strings 1 and 2
Bm7 Guitar Chord Advanced #2
Place your 1st finger on the 1st string/5th fret
Place your 2nd finger on the 6th string/7th fret
Place your 3rd finger on the 3rd string/7th fret
Place your 4th finger on the 2nd string/7th fret
Play string 5 open
Mute string 4
Bm7 Guitar Chord Simplified
Admittedly, most of the variations are tricky, and will take some careful practice to execute. If you want to "jump in" to playing Bm7 in an easier fashion, you can also try one of these simpler voicings on for size:
Place your 1st finger on the 5th string/2nd fret
Place your 2nd finger on the 3rd string/2nd fret
Place your 3rd finger on the 2nd string/3rd fret
Play string 4 open
Mute strings 1 and 6
Bm7 Guitar Chord Simplified #2
Place your 1st finger on the 5th string/2nd fret
Place your 2nd finger on the 3rd string/2nd fret
Place your 3rd finger on the 1st string/2nd fret
Play strings 2 and 4 open
Mute string 6
Bm7 Guitar Chord Simplified #3
Place your 1st finger on the 4th string/9th fret
Place your 2nd finger on the 2nd string/10th fret
Place your 3rd finger on the 1st string/10th fret
Place your 4th finger on the 3rd string/11th fret
Mute strings 5 and 6
Got all that? Great! Now, let's talk about your upcoming practice regimen.
Slow and Steady Wins the Race
Bm7 can be a difficult chord to play. Make sure you start slowly, concentrate on fingering, and only move on to a new voicing once you feel confident with the one you're currently working on. Once you're able to transition from other chords to Bm7 smoothly, you'll know you're ready. As always, good luck, and happy practicing!