17 chords (including enharmonic equivalents)
ANATOMY
Minor Chord Formula
The 3 scale degrees that form every minor chord — in any key.
I
Root0 st
♭III
Minor 3rd+3 st
V
Perfect 5th+7 st
A minor chord is built from three notes: the root, the minor third (three semitones above the root — one less than a major chord), and the perfect fifth (seven semitones above the root). Lowering that single third is the only change from major to minor — but it transforms the whole emotional character of the chord.
Applied to A: A (root) – C (minor 3rd) – E (perfect 5th). Applied to E: E – G – B. Applied to D: D – F – A.
About this tool
About Minor Chords on Guitar
Minor chords carry the darker, more emotional, often melancholic side of Western harmony. They're built almost identically to major chords — same root, same fifth — but with the third lowered by a single semitone. That tiny change unlocks an entire emotional vocabulary: sadness, tension, mystery, longing. Minor chords appear in nearly every genre, from blues and rock to pop ballads and film scores, and they pair naturally with their major counterparts in chord progressions.
- 01Built from 3 notes: root, minor 3rd, perfect 5th (formula 1 – ♭3 – 5)
- 02Darker, reflective sound — the foundation of melancholy, longing, and tension in Western music
- 03Lowering the third of a major chord by a single semitone is the only change — but it inverts the entire emotional character
- 04Every major key has a "relative minor" that shares the same notes — Am is the relative minor of C major, Em of G major
- 05Natural, harmonic, and melodic minor scales all share the same minor triad on the root — the chord works across all three minor flavours
- 06Symbolised with a lowercase "m" or "min" (Am, Amin, A-)
- 07Em, Am, and Dm are the only common open minor shapes — every other minor chord is typically a barre (Bm, F#m, Cm, etc.)