Mike Moxcey ©2005

Minor Chords

There are two ways to think of minor chords. The first way is just as straight minors as opposed to major (which are the chords we’ve been using so far). That’s a good way of figuring out how to form the chord, but not many songs are actually written in minors. The Django Reinhardt/Stephane Grappelli song Minor Swing comes to mind. And even though it is written in a minor key, it still uses a couple major chords.

Try some of the minor chords off yor chord charts. If you’ve been doing songs in G, try to play the G minor (Gm) and C minor (Cm). Similarly, if you’ve been playing in C, try the Cm and Fm chords. They are difficult to form but they give you an understanding of the difference in sound.

Here’s a “straight” minor song. It’s actually written in a minor key, but you can see that it uses the relative major chord and also uses the regular seventh. Most of the songs I’ve played in minor keys are in Am, Em, or Dm, so those are the three versions presented.

When Johnny Comes Marching Home

(Louis Lambert [pen name for Patrick Gilmore])

     Am             /       /      /       C /     / /
When Johnny comes marching home again, hurrah, hurrah.

       Am         /      /        /      C /     E7 /
We'll give him a hearty welcome then hurrah, hurrah.

    Am         /         Dm         /
The men will cheer, the boys will shout

     Am      /       E7        /
the ladies they will all turn out

          Am   G   Am   G    Am           E7       Am /
And we'll all feel gay when Johnny comes marching home



Am / / / | C / / / | Am / / / | C / E7 /

Am / Dm / | Am / E7 / | Am G Am G | Am E7 Am /


Em / / / | G / / / | Em / / / | G / B7 /

Em / Am / | Em / B7 / | Em D Em D | Em B7 Em /


Dm / / / | F / / / | Dm / / / | F / A7 /

Dm / Gm / | Dm / A7 / | Dm C Dm C | Dm A7 Dm /

  1. The old church bell will peal with joy, hurrah, hurrah,
    to welcome home our darling boy, hurrah, hurrah.
    The village lads and lassies say with roses they will strew the way
    and we'll all feel gay when Johnny comes marching home.

  2. Get ready for the Jubilee, hurrah, hurrah.
    We'll give the hero three times three, hurrah, hurrah.
    The laurel wreath is ready now to place upon his loyal brow …

  3. Let love and friends on that day, hurrah, hurrah,
    Their choicest treasures then display, hurrah, hurrah.
    And let each one perform some part to fill with joy each warrior's heart…

The Ants Go Marching

The tune for When Johnny Comes Marching Home is also used for the song The Ants Go Marching. The only difference is at the end when there are more strums of the final chord to get in the extra words 

     Am       /        /     /       C /     / /
The ants go marching one-by-one, hurrah! Hurrah!

     Am       /       /      /       C /     E7 /
The ants go marching one-by-one, hurrah! Hurrah!

     Am       /       Dm     /
The ants go marching one-by-one

     Am          /         E7        /
the little one stopped to suck his thumb

         Am   G   Am G    Am /         /    /
and they all go marching down  to the ground

        / /         / /
to get out  of the rain.

The ants go marching two-by-two, hurrah, hurrah. (2x)
The ants go marching two-by-two, the little one stops to tie his shoe
and they all go marching down to the ground to get out of the rain.

The ants go marching three-by-three; the little one stops to cddmb a tree…

The ants go marching four-by-four; the little one stops to knock at the door …

Five-by-five: look at the hive

Six-by-six: pick up sticks

Seven-by-seven: look at heaven

Eight-by-eight: open the gate

Nine-by-nine: check the time

Ten-by-ten: start again
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