Sevenths
A♯ minor 7th chord
Smooth and soulful; a staple of jazz, R&B and funk.
A♯m7 is the ii7 chord in A♭ major, iii7 in F♯ major and vi7 in D♭ major. In minor keys: i7 in B♭ minor and iv7 in F minor.
- Notes
- A♯C♯E♯G♯
- Formula
- 1♭35♭7
- Built from
- root · minor 3rd · perfect 5th · minor 7th
How to play A♯m7
About the A♯ minor 7th chord
Playing it
There’s no open-string way to play A♯m7 on guitar with the root in the bass, so the standard shape is a barre across the 1st fret (x13121).
On piano, A♯m7 has three black keys (A♯, C♯ and G♯) and one white key.
On ukulele the usual A♯m7 shape is 1111, with the index finger barring all four strings at the 1st fret.
Related chords
Take away the root and the other three notes form C♯ (C♯ E♯ G♯) — so you can think of A♯m7 as C♯ with A♯ added underneath.
A♯m7 contains exactly the same notes as C♯6. Which name fits depends on which note is in the bass and what key you’re in.
Move a single note and A♯m7 becomes a different chord: drop the G♯ for A♯m, raise C♯ to C𝄪 for A♯7, lower G♯ to F𝄪 for A♯m6 and swap C♯ for D♯ for A♯7sus4.
Where you’ll hear it
You’ll find A♯m7 in common progressions such as B♭m7–E♭7–A♭maj7 (the jazz cadence in A♭ major).
Notice the E♯ in A♯m7 (A♯ C♯ E♯ G♯): each note of the chord takes its own letter (A–C–E–G), so the perfect 5th has to be written E♯ rather than F — the same key on a piano, spelled to fit the chord.
