A minor chord on piano

The Am piano chord (A minor) is three notes: A, C and E. Start on A, count three half steps up to C, then four more to E.

  • Aroot, 1
  • Cminor 3rd, ♭3
  • Eperfect 5th, 5
A1C3E5

Fingers are numbered from the thumb, 1, to the little finger, 5. Right hand 1, 3, 5; left hand 5, 3, 1.

How to play A minor on piano

  1. Find A, the white key between the second and third of a group of three black keys.
  2. Put your right thumb (finger 1) on A.
  3. Count three half steps up, black and white keys alike, to C. Rest your middle finger (3) there.
  4. Count four more half steps to E for your little finger (5).
  5. Press all three keys together.
  6. For the left hand, play the same keys with fingers 5, 3 and 1, or play A an octave lower with your little finger.

Inversions

  1. A1C3E5

    Root position

    A, C, E

    Right hand 1, 3, 5; left hand 5, 3, 1.

  2. C1E2A5

    1st inversion

    C, E, A

    Right hand 1, 2, 5; left hand 5, 3, 1.

  3. E1A3C5

    2nd inversion

    E, A, C

    Right hand 1, 3, 5; left hand 5, 2, 1.

Practice A minor

Hold each position of A minor for four beats, then move to the next: root position, 1st inversion, 2nd inversion, and round again. Start at 60 beats a minute and move up toward 100 once every change lands on the beat.

ACE
  1. Root positionA–C–E
  2. 1st inversionC–E–A
  3. 2nd inversionE–A–C

The shape of A minor

A minor is all white keys, the same pattern as D minor and E minor.

A minor is built from the A natural minor scale: take its 1st, 3rd and 5th notes, skipping every other note.

  1. A1
  2. B2
  3. C3
  4. D4
  5. E5
  6. F6
  7. G7

Smooth changes from A minor

Jumping from one root position chord to the next moves the whole hand. The right inversion keeps shared notes still and moves the others the shortest way. Below are the chords built on the 4th and 5th notes of A minor's own key: Dm and E.

  • ADF

    From Am to Dm, play Dm in 2nd inversion (A–D–F): A stays, C moves up two half steps to D and E moves up a half step to F.

  • BEG♯

    From Am to E, play E in 1st inversion (G♯–B–E): A moves down a half step to G♯, C moves down a half step to B and E stays.

A minor on the staff and on guitar

On the treble staff, A sits in the second space, C in the third space and E in the top space.
×231AEACE
Open AmFrets, low E to high E: x 0 2 2 1 0
5fr134111AEACEA
Em shape, 5th fretFrets, low E to high E: 5 7 7 5 5 5

Keys with A minor in them

  • C majorviC, Dm, Em, F, G, Am, Bdim
  • F majoriiiF, Gm, Am, B♭, C, Dm, Edim
  • G majoriiG, Am, Bm, C, D, Em, F♯dim
  • D minorvDm, Edim, F, Gm, Am, B♭, C
  • E minorivEm, F♯dim, G, Am, Bm, C, D
  • A minoriAm, Bdim, C, Dm, Em, F, G

Progressions that use it

  • i–VI–III–VII, in A minor

    1. iAm
    2. VIF
    3. IIIC
    4. VIIG

  • i–iv–v, in A minor

    1. iAm
    2. ivDm
    3. vEm

  • i–VII–VI–V (Andalusian cadence), in A minor

    1. iAm
    2. VIIG
    3. VIF
    4. VE

  • iiø7–V7–i, in A minor

    1. iiø7Bm7♭5
    2. V7E7
    3. iAm

Related chords

Hearing a chord you can't name? Press its keys in the chord identifier.

Save or print the A minor chord chart

A minor chord on piano keyboard, notes A C E
Download the A minor chord chart (PNG). Free to print and share. For every chord on one page, see the piano chord chart.

Practice notes for A minor

A minor is all white keys, A, C and E, and it is the relative minor of C major: it uses only the white keys of the C major scale. For many players it is the first minor chord.

Where it goes wrong. A sits between the second and third black keys of the group of three. The usual slip is the middle finger landing on D instead of C. Skip one white key each time: A, skip B, C, skip D, E.

How to practice it. Play A minor and C major one after the other. They share two notes, C and E; only A and G change places. Then practice the change to D minor in 2nd inversion (A–D–F): the thumb stays on A, and the other two fingers each move up a short step.

What to listen for. Raise C to C♯ and you have A major. Playing A minor and A major side by side, only that one note changes, and the difference between minor and major is easy to hear.

What to learn next. D minor and E major, the iv and V chords in A minor. E major uses G♯, the raised 7th of the key, and that is what makes it lead back to A minor.

Questions

What notes are in a A minor chord?

A, C and E. A is the root, C is a minor 3rd above it and E is a perfect 5th above it.

How is A minor different from A major?

Only the middle note changes. A major raises C a half step to C♯; the other two notes stay.

What does Am mean?

The small m means minor: Am is A minor, A, C and E. You may also see it written Amin or A−.