Chords in the key of A minor
The seven chords that live in A minor, what each one is doing, and the progressions songwriters build from them.
| Numeral | Chord | Quality | Feels like |
|---|---|---|---|
| i | Am | minor | home |
| ii° | Bdim | diminished | away |
| III | C | major | home |
| iv | Dm | minor | away |
| v | Em | minor | pulls home |
| VI | F | major | home |
| VII | G | major | pulls home |
Progressions that work in A minor
Pop-minor loop
Am F C G
i – VI – III – VII
The minor-key cousin of the four-chord loop; broods without dragging.
Classic minor
Am Dm Em
i – iv – v
i–iv–v keeps everything modal and soft-edged.
Rock descent
Am G F G
i – VII – VI – VII
Riding VII and VI under a minor tonic: the backbone of minor-key rock.
The harmonic pull
Bdim E Am
ii° – V – i
Raise the Em to E (harmonic minor) and the pull back to Am gets teeth.
How to use this key
Every key is the same machine with different letters. Three of these chords feel like home (Am, C, F), two lean away (Bdim, Dm), and two pull back toward home (Em, G). A progression is just a route through those three feelings, which is why the loops above work in any key: the numerals stay the same, only the spelling changes.
Write with the letters, think with the numerals. If a melody outgrows A minor, the whole chart moves at once: transpose it to any key and every chord re-spells itself correctly.
A minor shares its entire chord set with C major, its relative major; the same seven chords, heard around a different home. Its nearest neighbors on the circle of fifths are E minor and D minor, one accidental away in either direction.
SongSheet keeps all of this live under a real chart: the key palette, the numerals, and capo math follow your song as you write. Start a chart free; no account needed.