Minor Second Chords

Let’s look at how to play an A flat minor 2 chord on the piano. We’ll also learn the pattern for building any other minor second chord.

What Are Minor Second Chords?

Minor second chords are minor chords with an added note. The added note is the second note of the matching major scale.

So to build a minor second chord, we’ll start with a minor chord. We can build a minor chord by first building the matching major chord and then lowering the middle note 1/2 step.

Then to convert the minor chord into a minor second chord, we’ll add the second note of the matching major scale.

Chord Types Printable

Learn to play 17 types of piano chords using 12 different root notes with this 35-page PDF! Chords are sorted both by their root note and type.

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How to Play an A Flat Minor 2 Chord on the Piano

So to play an A flat minor 2 chord, we’ll start by building an A flat minor chord. We can build an A flat minor chord by taking an A flat major chord, A♭ – C – E♭, and lowering the middle note 1/2 step: A♭ – C♭ – E♭

Then to convert the minor chord into a minor second chord, we’ll add the second note of the A flat minor scale to the chord: B♭

So to play an A flat minor 2 chord, we’ll play:

A♭ – B♭ – C♭ – E♭

We can use this pattern to build any other minor second chord. First we’ll build a minor chord by taking the matching major chord and lowering the middle note 1/2 step. Then we’ll add the second note of the matching major scale to the chord.

Add9 Chords

An A♭madd9 (A flat minor add 9) chord uses the same notes as an A♭m2 chord. Minor add9 chords are minor chords with an added note. The added note is the ninth note of the scale. Since scales only have eight notes, we can find the ninth note by repeating the scale into the next octave. The ninth note is the same as the second note of the scale, but one octave up.

So the A♭m2 chord and the A♭madd9 chords use the same notes, but in a different order.

A♭m2 chord: A♭ – B♭ – C♭ – E♭

A♭madd9 chord: A♭ – C♭ – E♭ – B♭

Other Chord Types

Some of the other chord types you can learn are:

Major
Minor
Augmented
Diminished
Second
Suspended
Fifth
Sixth
Minor Sixth
Seventh
Minor Seventh
Major Seventh
Ninth
Minor Ninth
Major Ninth

Conclusion

Now you know how to build an A flat minor 2 chord, and you can use that knowledge to build other minor second chords.

Second chords are nice to learn because they give us more options at the piano. It can be nice to try using minor second chords in place of minor chords at the piano, to create variety.