Minor Chords

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

What Are Minor Chords?

Minor chords are major chords with the middle note lowered 1/2 step.

So one way to build a minor chord is to find the matching major chord, and then lower the middle note 1/2 step.

We can build major chords using the first, third and fifth notes of the matching major scale, so another way to build a minor chord is to find the first, third and fifth notes of the matching major scale, and then lower the middle note 1/2 step.

You can learn how to build a major scale here.

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.

Get the Printable

How to Play an A Flat Minor Chord on the Piano

Now let’s build an A flat minor chord. We’ll start by building an A flat major chord using the first, third and fifth notes of the A flat major scale: A♭ – C – E♭

Then we’ll take the A flat major chord and lower the middle note 1/2 step: A♭ – C♭ – E♭

You may be wondering why we would label the middle note “C♭” instead of “B”, since they are the same note on the piano. The reason is because minor chords are built using a “1 – 3 – 5” pattern on the piano: a root, minor third, and a perfect fifth. These labels refer to intervals, which you can learn more about here, and are based on the scale. Since the root of this chord is A♭, a third up from A alphabetically is a C, so we need to label this note as some type of C.

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

A♭ – C♭ – E♭

We can use this pattern to build any other minor chord! First we can find the matching major chord using the first, third and fifth notes of the matching major scale. Then we can lower the middle note 1/2 step to convert the major chord into a minor chord.

Other Chord Types

Some of the other chord types you can learn are:

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

Conclusion

Now you know how to play an A flat minor chord on the piano, and you can use that pattern to build any other minor chord!

Minor chords are fun to play, because they lend themselves well to more somber and reflective music, and provide a nice contrast to major chords at the piano.