Chords in the Key of A Minor

What are the chords in A minor?

Take the A minor scale — A B C D E F G — and build a chord on each note by stacking every other scale note on top of it. Those seven chords are the chords in the key:

• Am — i, minor, built on A
• Bdim — ii°, diminished, built on B
• C — III, major, built on C
• Dm — iv, minor, built on D
• Em — v, minor, built on E
• F — VI, major, built on F
• G — VII, major, built on G

The pattern of qualities is the same in every minor key — only the letters change. Learn the numerals and you can find the chords of any key in seconds.

Which chords to play first

Am, Dm and Em — the i, iv and v — carry most songs in A minor. Add F (the VI) and G (the VII) for the classic minor-key turnaround.

• Bittersweet Loop — 6m–4–1–5 — Am – F – C – G. Heard in Zombie, Numb.
• Andalusian Cadence — 6m–5–4–3 — Am – G – F – E. Heard in Hit the Road Jack, Stray Cat Strut.
• Dorian Vamp — 6m–2 — Am – D. Heard in Oye Como Va, Evil Ways.

The same chords as 7ths

Stack one more third on each and you get the seventh chords of A minor: Am7, Bm7♭5, Cmaj7, Dm7, Em7, Fmaj7, G7. Same roots, same function, a jazz and soul colour. The v as a dominant seventh (Em7) is the one that pulls hardest back to Am.

A minor and C major share every chord

C major uses the same seven notes as A minor, so it has the same seven chords — the relative major. What changes is which chord is home: Am in A minor, C in C major. A song can drift between the two without changing a single chord shape.

• The chords of C major, with their own numerals
• The A minor scale on the neck

How to practice the chords of A minor

1. Play Am – Dm – Em – Am slowly, one strum per chord, until the changes are clean.
2. Open the chord builder in this key and turn on Smooth Voice Leading — it re-fingers each change so your hand barely moves.
3. Then play the scale over the chords. Every note of A minor fits every chord above, which is why the scale and the key are the same thing seen from two sides.