Minor key
F minor
Its seven chords: Fm, Gdim, A♭, B♭m, Cm, D♭, E♭.
- F1
- G2
- A♭3
- B♭4
- C5
- D♭6
- E♭7
| Degree | Triad | Seventh chord | Notes of the seventh chord |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 F | i Fm | i7 Fm7 | F A♭ C E♭ |
| 2 G | ii° Gdim | iiø7 Gm7♭5 | G B♭ D♭ F |
| 3 A♭ | III A♭ | IIImaj7 A♭maj7 | A♭ C E♭ G |
| 4 B♭ | iv B♭m | iv7 B♭m7 | B♭ D♭ F A♭ |
| 5 C | v Cm | v7 Cm7 | C E♭ G B♭ |
| 6 D♭ | VI D♭ | VImaj7 D♭maj7 | D♭ F A♭ C |
| 7 E♭ | VII E♭ | VII7 E♭7 | E♭ G B♭ D♭ |
| Harmonic minor | V C | C E G | |
| Harmonic minor | V7 C7 | C E G B♭ | |
| Harmonic minor | vii°7 Edim7 | E G B♭ D♭ | |
- i–iv–V–i
- Fm
- B♭m
- C
- Fm
- i–VI–III–VII
- Fm
- D♭
- A♭
- E♭
- i–VII–VI–V
- Fm
- E♭
- D♭
- C
- ii°–V7–i
- Gdim
- C7
- Fm
About F minor
Play F – G – A♭ – B♭ – C – D♭ – E♭ and back to the first note again, and you have the scale of F minor. With 4♭ in the signature (B♭, E♭, A♭, D♭), it is easy to read once you know the signature. Every chord in the table above is made only from these notes.
Three chords hold F minor together: the tonic Fm, the subdominant B♭m and the dominant C. The last one is borrowed from the harmonic minor scale: raising the seventh note to E creates a leading tone that resolves up by a half step to the home note.
Starting the same scale from A♭ gives A flat major, the relative key. Borrowing a chord from F major, the parallel key, is a classic way to add colour: a minor chord in a major key, or a major chord in a minor one, for a moment.
The neighbouring minor keys are C minor and B flat minor; each is one note away from F minor. The ii chord of the key, Gdim, is diminished, and in jazz it is often played as a half-diminished chord leading to C.
If the barre chords of F minor are hard for you, use a capo on fret 1: the shapes Em, G, Am, Bm, C, D then sound in the right key.
Practise the key in three steps: the scale up and down, the seven chords in order, then one of the progressions above until the changes feel automatic. Ten minutes is enough.