Minor Chords
Let’s look at how to play an F sharp 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.
We can build a minor chord by first building a major chord using the first, third and fifth notes of the matching major scale. Then we’ll convert the major chord into a minor chord by lowering the middle note 1/2 step.
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.
How to Play an F Sharp Minor Chord
So to build an F sharp minor chord, we’ll start by building an F sharp major chord. We can build an F sharp major chord using the first, third and fifth notes of the F sharp major scale: F♯ – A♯ – C♯
Then we’ll lower the middle note 1/2 step: F♯ – A – C♯
So to play an F sharp minor chord, we’ll play:
F♯ – A – C♯
We can use this pattern to build any other minor chord. We’ll first build a major chord using the first, third and fifth notes of the matching major scale. Then we’ll lower the middle note 1/2 step.
Other Chord Types
Some of the other chord types we 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 build an F sharp minor chord on the piano, and you can use this pattern to build any other minor chord.
Minor chords are really pretty, and they work well for slower and more introspective songs. I hope you enjoy playing these beautiful chords!
Hello
I am 70 years old.
I play piano without cords I know how to read music. Now I person in our senior village has asked me to play for some seniors once a week. Because my music teacher never asked me to play cords, now I knew to remember cords , how do I remember all these cords? Circle of fifths?
Thank you,
Joan OConnor
Hi Joan, I’m glad you have an opportunity to play piano for the seniors in your village! Yes, it can feel overwhelming to learn piano chords, since there are many chords and variations of chords, but one approach to getting started would be to focus on learning the chords for one particular key, and just playing in that key for awhile. So for example, you could first work on learning the chords for the key of C major, and only play songs in that key until you feel comfortable with those chords. You could also practice in A minor, since C major and A minor are relatives and would share the same chords. Then when you’re ready, you could focus on learning the chords for other keys, such as G major and E minor. Here’s a link for a post teaching the chords for C major:
https://www.julieswihart.com/key-c-major-chords/
And here’s a link for a post teaching the same chords but using the key of A minor:
https://www.julieswihart.com/key-a-minor-chords/
You also asked about learning the Circle of Fifths. I have a post that explains how it works, and you can also opt in for a Circle of Fifths PDF here if you’d like:
https://www.julieswihart.com/understand-circle-of-fifths-pdf/
I hope this helps get you started!