F Minor CAGED Chord Shapes: All 5 Positions on Guitar
F minor is F, A♭ and C. The CAGED system gives five shapes for it up the neck: the E shape from the first fret, the D shape from the third fret, the C shape from the fifth fret, the A shape from the eighth fret and the G shape from the tenth fret. None of them is an open chord, so each one is a barre or a partial shape.
Keys
CAGED Chords — Fm
Triads — Fm
Root position
First inversion
Second inversion
All inversions
The notes of Fm
Fm is a minor triad: root, minor third and fifth (1 ♭3 5), which is a minor third (three frets) with a major third (four frets) on top. Every shape below is those three notes, doubled in different octaves.
How the five shapes connect
From the bottom of the neck up, the shapes run E (first fret), D (third fret), C (fifth fret), A (eighth fret) and G (tenth fret). Each one starts where the last one's top notes are, so playing them in order moves one chord up the whole fretboard. After the G shape, the E shape comes round again twelve frets higher.
The A shape and G shape share 2 notes (C on the D string at the tenth fret and F on the G string at the tenth fret), which is the hinge between them.
Where the root, F, sits in each shape: E shape: low E, D and high e; D shape: D and B; C shape: A; A shape: A and G; G shape: low E and G. Find that string first and the rest of the shape falls into place around it.
Where Fm appears
Written out, Fm uses one flat (A♭), so it sits most naturally in flat keys.
Fm belongs to 8 keys: iii in D♭ major (five flats), ii in E♭ major (three flats) and vi in A♭ major (four flats); iv in C minor (three flats), i in F minor (four flats) and v in B♭ minor (five flats); iv in C harmonic minor (three flats) and i in F harmonic minor (four flats).
None of them is one of the open-string guitar keys (C, G, D, A and E major, and A, E and D minor), so Fm is more often met in piano-led songs, horn arrangements and with a capo.
Open strings and capo options for Fm
No open string is a note of Fm, so every voicing on this page is fully fretted and there's nothing to let ring.
To get an open-sounding voicing, use a capo: the Em shape with the capo at the first fret and the Dm shape with the capo at the third fret.
Closely related chords
Its relative major, A♭, shares two notes with Fm (A♭ and C). Its parallel major, F, shares two as well (F and C). The chords a fourth and a fifth away, B♭m and Cm, are its neighbours in F minor and share one note each: F with B♭m, and C with Cm.
Fm CAGED FAQs
What notes are in a Fm chord?
F, A♭ and C: the root, minor third and fifth (1 ♭3 5).
What are the CAGED shapes for F minor?
The E shape from the first fret, the D shape from the third fret, the C shape from the fifth fret, the A shape from the eighth fret and the G shape from the tenth fret. E shape is the lowest; the E shape repeats twelve frets higher.
Where is the easiest Fm chord on guitar?
The E shape from the first fret is the lowest. Most players start with the E-shape or A-shape barre, then learn the others.
Related
Learn more
The CAGED system explained covers how the five shapes are built and linked, and minor CAGED shapes shows how each one changes for minor. The CAGED guitar lessons set out what to learn next, and the CAGED library has every major and minor chord.