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How to form a minor chord

You can watch this lesson in the video below, or read at your ease under the video.

Minor chords

How are minor chords formed? The most important characteristic of a minor chord is the minor 3^rd interval from the root (starting note) to the second chord note. We can have minor triads and minor chords with a 7^th.

If you want to hear sound samples of the different chords, please refer to the lesson ‘What is a chord? How do different chords sound?’.

Minor triads

A minor triad is made of the root (1^st), 3^rd and 5^th note of the minor scale. For example, the C minor triad is formed by the root, the 3^rd and the 5^th note of the C minor scale. So, the notes of a C minor triad are: C, Eb and G. Notice the minor 3^rd interval between the root (C) and the Eb. The Eb is therefore called the minor 3^rd in the key of C.

Two more examples:

• The A minor triad: the root, minor 3^rd and 5^th in the key of A are A, C and E, so the A minor triad is: A    C    E
• The Db minor triad: the root, minor 3rd and 5th in the key of Db are Db, Fb (enharmonic equivalent of E) and Ab, so the Db minor triad is: Db    Fb    Ab

Minor 7th chords

Minor 7^th chords are formed by a minor triad with an extra note: the minor 7^th. The minor 7^th is the note that makes a minor 7^th interval with the root note. The minor 7^th in the key of C is Bb. So, the C minor 7^th chord consists of the notes C, Eb, G and Bb.

We write the C minor 7^th chord as Cm7, Cmin7 or C-7

I will take the 2 other examples from above to give you 2 more minor 7^th chords:

• The A minor 7^th chord: the A minor triad (A C    E) with the added minor 7^th (G) gives us the A minor 7^th chord:    A    C    E    G
• The Db minor 7^th chord: add the minor 7^th in the key of Db to the Db minor triad to get: Db    Fb    Ab    Cb   (Cb being the enharmonic equivalent of B)

Minor major 7^th chords

Minor major 7^th chords are almost never used in rock/pop/blues music, but a lot in jazz.

A minor major 7^th chord is made of a minor triad with an added major 7^th note. At first sight, the name is a bit confusing: is it a minor chord or a major chord? Well, it is a minor chord because of the minor 3^rd (it’s built on a minor triad!). The ‘major’ in the chord name refers to the 7^th because it is a major 7^th note.

We write a C minor major 7^th chord as C-∆7 or Cm^∆7.

A minor major 7^th chord is easy to find when you know the minor 7^th chord: just raise the minor 7^th by a semitone.

Taking the same examples as before, we get:

• The C minor major 7^th chord: C    Eb    G    B
• The A minor major 7^th chord: A    C    E    G#
• The Db minor major 7^th chord: Db    Fb    Ab    C

All the other minor chords

With the information in this lesson, you can now find out all the other minor chords. Start with all the 12 triads, and then put the minor 7^th or major 7^th on top to find the minor 7^th and minor major 7^th chords. If you don’t remember well all the minor scales, then have a look at the lesson about minor scales. For the minor chords that have a ‘black key root’: take the roots that have a minor scale with not more than 6 sharps or 6 flats (see ‘How to form a minor scale’). For the sake of completeness, I will also add the enharmonic equivalents with more than 6 sharps or flats in parentheses.

When you’re finished, check your answers with the solutions below.

Triads

Minor triad	Chord notes
Cm	C    Eb    G
Dm	D    F    A
Em	E    G    B
Fm	F    Ab    C
Gm	G    Bb    D
Am	A    C    E
Bm	B    D    F#
C#m (Dbm)	C#    E    G#    (Db    Fb    Ab)
D#m / Ebm	D#    F#    A#  /  Eb    Gb    Bb
F#m (Gbm)	F#    A    C#    (Gb    Bbb    Db)
G#m (Abm)	G#    B    D#    (Ab    Cb    Eb)
Bbm (A#m)	Bb    Db    F    (A#    C#    E#)

Minor 7^th chords

Minor 7th chord	Chord notes
Cm7	C    Eb    G    Bb
Dm7	D    F    A    C
Em7	E    G    B    D
Fm7	F    Ab    C    Eb
Gm7	G    Bb    D    F
Am7	A    C    E    G
Bm7	B    D    F#    A
C#m7 (Dbm7)	C#    E    G#    B    (Db    Fb    Ab    Cb)
D#m7 / Ebm7	D#    F#    A#    C#    /    Eb    Gb    Bb    Db
F#m7 (Gbm7)	F#    A    C#    E    (Gb    Bbb    Db    Fb)
G#m7 (Abm7)	G#    B    D#    F#    (Ab    Cb    Eb    Gb)
Bbm7 (A#m7)	Bb    Db    F    Ab    (A#    C#    E#    G#)

Minor major 7^th chords

Minor major 7th chord	Chord notes
C-∆7	C    Eb    G    B
D-∆7	D    F    A    C#
E-∆	E    G    B    D#
F-∆7	F    Ab    C    E
G-∆7	G    Bb    D    F#
A-∆7	A    C    E    G#
B-∆7	B    D    F#    A#
C#-∆7 (Db-∆7)	C#    E    G#    B#    (Db    Fb    Ab    C)
D#-∆7 / Eb-∆7	D#    F#    A#    C##    /    Eb    Gb    Bb    D
F#-∆7 (Gb-∆7)	F#    A    C#    E#    (Gb    Bbb    Db    F)
G#-∆7 (Ab-∆7)	G#    B    D#    F##    (Ab    Cb    Eb    G)
Bb-∆7 (A#-∆7)	Bb    Db    F    A    (A#    C#    E#    G##)

It’s really important to practice a lot in order to be able to quickly come up with the right minor chord when you’re play a song for example. The exercises below are an excellent way to practice your minor chord knowledge.

Recommended exercises for minor chords:

If you don’t know what chord inversions are, then do only the exercises in root positions. Otherwise, you can follow the lesson about inversions.

Minor triads:

Place the notes of the minor triad on the piano (only root positions)

Place the notes of the minor triad on the piano (all the inversions)

Minor 7th chords:

Place the notes of the minor 7th chord on the piano (only root positions)

Place the notes of the minor 7th chord on the piano (all the inversions)

Mix of all chords (also major!):

If you know how major chords work, you can do also the following exercises. If not, look first at the major chords lesson.

Place the notes of the chord (dominant/minor 7th/major 7th) on the piano (only root positions)

Place the notes of the chord (dominant/minor 7th/major 7th) on the piano (all the inversions)

I hope you learned a lot about minor chords. Please let us know what you think of this lesson and the exercises by leaving a comment below.