Triads
A♭ minor chord
Darker and more melancholy than major, but just as stable.
A♭m is the ii chord in F♯ major, iii in E major and vi in B major. In minor keys: i in G♯ minor and iv in E♭ minor.
- Notes
- A♭C♭E♭
- Formula
- 1♭35
- Built from
- root · minor 3rd · perfect 5th
How to play A♭m
About the A♭ minor chord
Playing it
On guitar, A♭m is most often played as a barre chord across the 4th fret (466444). While you build strength, you can play just the top four strings of the same shape (xx6444).
On piano, A♭m has two black keys (A♭ and E♭) and one white key.
On ukulele the usual A♭m shape is 4342, using four fingers.
Related chords
A♭m shares two of its three notes with C♭ (C♭ and E♭), its relative major, and with F♭ (A♭ and C♭). That overlap is why these chords sound so natural next to each other — and why they can often stand in for one another.
Move a single note and A♭m becomes a different chord: raise C♭ to C for A♭, add G♭ for A♭m7, swap C♭ for D♭ for A♭sus4 and lower C♭ to B♭ for A♭sus2.
Where you’ll hear it
You’ll find A♭m in common progressions such as G♯m–E–B–F♯ (the minor-feel pop progression in B major), G♯m–C♯m–D♯–G♯m (the minor cadence in G♯ minor) and G♯m–F♯–E–D♯ (the Andalusian cadence in G♯ minor).
Notice the C♭ in A♭m (A♭ C♭ E♭): each note of the chord takes its own letter (A–C–E), so the minor 3rd has to be written C♭ rather than B — the same key on a piano, spelled to fit the chord.
