F minor chord on piano

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

  • Froot, 1
  • A♭minor 3rd, ♭3
  • Cperfect 5th, 5
F1C5A♭3

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 F minor on piano

  1. Find F, the white key just left of a group of three black keys.
  2. Put your right thumb (finger 1) on F.
  3. Count three half steps up, black and white keys alike, to A♭. Rest your middle finger (3) there.
  4. Count four more half steps to C 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 F an octave lower with your little finger.

Inversions

  1. F1C5A♭3

    Root position

    F, A♭, C

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

  2. C2F5A♭1

    1st inversion

    A♭, C, F

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

  3. C1F3A♭5

    2nd inversion

    C, F, A♭

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

Practice F minor

Hold each position of F 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.

FCA♭
  1. Root positionF–A♭–C
  2. 1st inversionA♭–C–F
  3. 2nd inversionC–F–A♭

The shape of F minor

F minor is white, black, white: A♭ is the only black key. C minor and G minor have the same pattern.

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

  1. F1
  2. G2
  3. A♭3
  4. B♭4
  5. C5
  6. D♭6
  7. E♭7

Smooth changes from F 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 F minor's own key: Bbm and C.

  • FB♭D♭

    From Fm to Bbm, play Bbm in 2nd inversion (F–B♭–D♭): F stays, A♭ moves up two half steps to B♭ and C moves up a half step to D♭.

  • EGC

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

F minor on the staff and on guitar

♭
On the treble staff, F sits in the bottom space, A♭ in the second space and C in the third space.
134111FCFA♭CF
Em shape, 1st fretFrets, low E to high E: 1 3 3 1 1 1
8fr×13421FCFA♭C
Am shape, 8th fretFrets, low E to high E: x 8 10 10 9 8

Keys with F minor in them

  • D♭ majoriiiD♭, E♭m, Fm, G♭, A♭, B♭m, Cdim
  • C♯ majoriiiC♯, D♯m, E♯m, F♯, G♯, A♯m, B♯dim
  • E♭ majoriiE♭, Fm, Gm, A♭, B♭, Cm, Ddim
  • A♭ majorviA♭, B♭m, Cm, D♭, E♭, Fm, Gdim
  • C minorivCm, Ddim, E♭, Fm, Gm, A♭, B♭
  • F minoriFm, Gdim, A♭, B♭m, Cm, D♭, E♭
  • B♭ minorvB♭m, Cdim, D♭, E♭m, Fm, G♭, A♭

Progressions that use it

  • i–VI–III–VII, in F minor

    1. iFm
    2. VID♭
    3. IIIA♭
    4. VIIE♭

  • i–iv–v, in F minor

    1. iFm
    2. ivB♭m
    3. vCm

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

    1. iFm
    2. VIIE♭
    3. VID♭
    4. VC

  • iiø7–V7–i, in F minor

    1. iiø7Gm7♭5
    2. V7C7
    3. iFm

Related chords

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

Save or print the F minor chord chart

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

Practice notes for F minor

F minor is white, black, white: F and C are white keys, and A♭ is the black key in the middle. It shares the shape with C minor and G minor.

Where it goes wrong. The middle finger landing on A out of habit. A♭ is the middle black key of the group of three. Look at it before you press, and let the middle finger reach slightly into the keys while the thumb and little finger stay on the white F and C.

How to practice it. Play F major, then F minor: only the middle finger moves, from A to A♭. Then practice the change to B♭ minor in 2nd inversion (F–B♭–D♭): the thumb keeps F, and both other fingers move onto black keys.

What to listen for. The A♭ gives F minor its dark color. Play it slowly and softly in the middle of the keyboard; low in the left hand the notes can blur.

What to learn next. B♭ minor and C major, the iv and V chords in F minor. The C major contains E, the raised 7th of the key, which leads back to F.

Questions

What notes are in a F minor chord?

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

How is F minor different from F major?

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

What does Fm mean?

The small m means minor: Fm is F minor, F, A♭ and C. You may also see it written Fmin or F−.