Chords in the Key of F Minor

What are the chords in F minor?

Take the F minor scale — F G Ab Bb C Db Eb — 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:

• Fm — i, minor, built on F
• Gdim — ii°, diminished, built on G
• Ab — III, major, built on Ab
• Bbm — iv, minor, built on Bb
• Cm — v, minor, built on C
• Db — VI, major, built on Db
• Eb — VII, major, built on Eb

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

Fm, Bbm and Cm — the i, iv and v — carry most songs in F minor. Add Db (the VI) and Eb (the VII) for the classic minor-key turnaround.

• Bittersweet Loop — 6m–4–1–5 — Fm – Db – Ab – Eb. Heard in Zombie, Numb.
• Andalusian Cadence — 6m–5–4–3 — Fm – Eb – Db – C. Heard in Hit the Road Jack, Stray Cat Strut.
• Dorian Vamp — 6m–2 — Fm – Bb. 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 F minor: Fm7, Gm7♭5, Abmaj7, Bbm7, Cm7, Dbmaj7, Eb7. Same roots, same function, a jazz and soul colour. The v as a dominant seventh (Cm7) is the one that pulls hardest back to Fm.

F minor and Ab major share every chord

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

• The chords of Ab major, with their own numerals
• The F minor scale on the neck

How to practice the chords of F minor

1. Play Fm – Bbm – Cm – Fm 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 F minor fits every chord above, which is why the scale and the key are the same thing seen from two sides.