A minor - Scales, triads & chords
On this page, you’ll find everything about A minor: explanatory videos and images of scale fingering, triad, chord, inversions, sheet music, and keyboard diagrams.
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Gordon November
Gordon November
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I can guess why you’re here: You’re having trouble with A minor. Right?
You’re not alone. Because A minor has its own peculiarities. But there’s still good news: A minor has no black keys. Then the key and its scale should be super easy to master, right?
Absolutely. At least, once you’ve read this article and applied my tips for A minor.
If you follow along, you’ll soon be able to play the A minor scale and be familiar with the A minor chords.
Well then, let’s get started. First, we’ll play the A minor scale, and then the A minor triads.
A minor scale
As mentioned: The A minor scale doesn’t use black keys. But: The scale doesn’t lie as ergonomically under the hand as, for example, A major.
But don’t panic. I’ll show you which fingers to use to play the A minor scale like an old pro.
Sheet music
As a little help, here’s the A minor scale in sheet music form. You won’t need it later, though.
Piano keyboard with fingering
Unsurprisingly: The A minor scale ranges from A to A. There are no black keys in between.
The standard fingering is used. So
1 – 2 – 3 – 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5
My tip: Just play the A minor scale up and down repeatedly. You’ll see: While it is a standard fingering, the playing still feels different than with C major, for example. Here’s the rule: Practice makes perfect. The minor scale will become second nature to you over time.
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A minor triad (chord)
Below, you’ll find the A minor triad as sheet music and as a piano keyboard in different positions: root position, 1st inversion, and 2nd inversion of the triad.
Home position
We start on A and build a minor third above it. So we land on C. And for the fifth note, we take the fifth from A. So we land on E.
The A minor chord therefore consists of the notes A – C – E and is played with 1 – 3 – 5.
1. reversal
If we move the A from the root position up, we get:
C – E – A
This is the first inversion of the A minor chord. You play the chord with 1 – 2 – 5.
2. reversal
Now we move the C of the first inversion up.
E – A – C
We play this chord again with the first, third, and fifth fingers.
Relative major key
The relative major key of A minor is C major.
How to play every song on the piano
Do you want to simply play your favorite songs on the piano? Without notes, without tutorials and without learning apps? In your own personal version?
Or do you simply want to spontaneously improvise your musical ideas on the piano? For yourself alone or in front of an audience?
Then you might be interested in this:
Play Piano by Intuition
Because intuitive piano playing does without sheet music and classical theory, you’ll learn it as quickly as you learned to speak as a child.
While for others the piano remains a “typewriter for notes,” you’ll understand its sounds and which combinations always sound right. You can express yourself through the piano – like a small child who has just learned to speak.
In future, you will be able to rely on your intuition in any situation: You will become immune to wrong notes because you will see the right keys in your mind’s eye even before you press them.
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Master Keys Without Sheet Music
With the new turbo training, you'll be proficient in every key signature within just a few weeks.
(no knowledge of sheet music required)
