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Key

A minor

The minor key on the tonic A. It needs no key signature and shares its whole stock of notes with C major. Because it consists only of natural notes, it is the first minor key for many people on the piano and the guitar.

Tonic
A
Key signature
none
Tonic chord
A–C–E
Dominant
E major, E–G♯–B
Leading tone
G♯
Relative key
C major
Parallel key
A major
Neighbours on the circle of fifths
E minor, D minor

Three forms of the same key

A minor is not a single scale but a key with three common forms. All three begin with A–B–C–D–E. They differ only in the sixth and seventh degrees, that is in F and G. The marked notes show where something changes. Beneath the notes are the distances: 1 means a whole tone, ½ a semitone, 1½ an augmented second.

Natural minor

A B C D E F G A 1 ½ 1 1 ½ 1 1

White keys only, A to A. This form is identical with the church mode Aeolian. Between G and A lies a whole tone. The semitone step that pulls towards the tonic is missing, so the close sounds more open than in major.

Harmonic minor

A B C D E F G♯ A 1 ½ 1 1 ½ 1½ ½

The seventh degree is raised to G♯. This creates a leading tone a semitone below A, and the dominant chord on E becomes the major triad E–G♯–B. In return a leap of a tone and a half appears between F and G♯, the augmented second. It gives this form its unmistakable sound.

Melodic minor

A B C D E F♯ G♯ A G F E D C B A 1 ½ 1 1 1 1 ½ 1 1 ½ 1 1 ½ 1

Ascending, F and G are raised to F♯ and G♯. The leading tone stays, the large leap disappears. Descending, classical teaching goes back to natural minor, which is why natural signs are written before G and F there.

In the glossary: Natural minor · Harmonic minor · Melodic minor

Try it yourself: In Scale Ear Training a scale sounds and you decide its type. The first level distinguishes major and natural minor, and harmonic and melodic minor are added later.

The chords of A minor

If you stack two thirds on each degree of the scale, you get the diatonic chords of the key. In natural minor the chord on the fifth degree is a minor triad. Only the G♯ from harmonic minor turns it into E major and gives the close on A minor its pull.

DegreeNatural minorWith G♯ (harmonic)
iAm A–C–EAm A–C–E
ii°B° B–D–FB° B–D–F
IIIC C–E–GC+ C–E–G♯, augmented
ivDm D–F–ADm D–F–A
v / VEm E–G–BE E–G♯–B
VIF F–A–CF F–A–C
VII / vii°G G–B–DG♯° G♯–B–D, diminished

In practice pieces in A minor mix both columns: E major usually comes before a close, and in the course of the piece G major and C major from the natural form appear. The full derivation is on the page Diatonic chords in the section “A minor, worked out”.

Why the G♯ achieves so much is explained by the article The leading tone: the natural minor scale has none, so it borrows one.

Typical progressions in A minor

AmiDmivEVAmi

These four chords form the harmonic framework of most songs and practice pieces in A minor. If you know them, you can accompany many melodies in this key.

  • Authentic cadence E → Am: the final close, carried by the leading tone G♯ going to A. See authentic cadence.
  • Plagal cadence Dm → Am: softer, without a leading tone. See plagal cadence.
  • Deceptive cadence E → F: the ear expects A minor and gets F major. Unlike in major, the deceptive cadence in minor lands on a major chord. See deceptive cadence.
  • Am – G – F – E: the descending sequence from Spanish music. It ends on E major and stays open. More in the article The modes through familiar pieces.
  • Close in A major: if a piece in A minor ends on A–C♯–E instead of A–C–E, that is the Picardy third. Background in the article Major and minor: the third as a switch.

All the closing formulas in major and minor with sound examples, many of them in A minor, are on the page Cadences.

A minor or C major?

The key signature alone does not answer the question, because both keys have none. Three clues decide:

  • The ending: If the melody ends on A and the last chord is Am, the piece is in A minor.
  • The G♯: An accidental before G is the clearest sign of A minor, because C major needs no G♯.
  • The beginning: Many pieces begin with the A minor triad or with E as an upbeat to A.
1 ♭D minorRelative F major
noneA minorRelative C major
1 ♯E minorRelative G major

On the circle of fifths A minor sits in the inner ring below C major. The direct neighbours differ from A minor in exactly one note: E minor has F♯ instead of F, D minor has B♭ instead of B. Do not confuse the relative key C major (same notes, different tonic) with the parallel key A major (same tonic, three sharps).

Practice: Key Signatures also asks for the relative minor keys on the higher levels. In the Circle of Fifths exercise you answer short questions about the circle, with the graphic shown alongside.

A minor on the guitar

Chord diagram Am: E string not played, A string open, D string fret 2, G string fret 2, B string fret 1, e string open × 2 3 1 E– AA DE GA BC eE
Am in open position. The numbers are the fingers of the fretting hand.

The open Am shape sounds A–E–A–C–E, from the A string upwards. The low E string is not played. The shape differs from the E major shape only in sitting one string higher. That is why many people learn the two together and practise the change E → Am straight away, which is the authentic cadence.

The natural scale lies almost entirely on open strings and the first three frets in first position: A, B, C on the A string (open, 2nd fret, 3rd fret), D, E, F on the D string, G and A on the G string (open, 2nd fret). For the G♯ of the harmonic form you fret the G string at the 1st fret.

The open A string is A2, the A of the great octave, and vibrates at 110 Hz, two octaves below the standard pitch A4 at 440 Hz.

Practice: In Notes on the Fretboard you train finding notes such as A, C, E and G♯ quickly on the fretboard. Guitar pieces to play are in the Classical Guitar Sheet Music.

Pieces in A minor to practise

These sheets are in the Maikstrings music archive and are in A minor. Each piece says how you can recognise the key in the notation.

Guitar

Piano

Orchestra

Does A minor sound sad?

It is often said that A minor is the plaintive or melancholy key. Historically that is not a fixed quantity. Christian Friedrich Daniel Schubart described A minor around 1784 in his “Ideen zu einer Ästhetik der Tonkunst” (published in 1806) as “pious femininity and softness of character”, so rather gentle than tragic.

Such descriptions of key character come from a time when instruments were not tuned in equal temperament and every key therefore sounded slightly different. In today's usual equal temperament all minor keys have the same intervals. Differences arise above all from the instrument: on guitar and string instruments many open strings ring along in A minor, in E♭ minor hardly any. That influences tone colour and playability more than the key itself.

Common mistakes

  • No key signature, so C major: Only the ending and the G♯ settle the key.
  • Looking for the G♯ in the key signature: The G♯ is always written as an accidental in the bar, never at the start of the line. It applies until the barline.
  • Melodic minor descending with F♯ and G♯: In classical teaching the scale goes back to G and F on the way down.
  • Spelling: Write the note letter as a capital and the mode word in lowercase: “A minor”, “A major”.

Continue on Maikstrings

Scale Ear Training

Tell natural, harmonic and melodic minor apart by sound.

Diatonic chords

The seven chords of A minor, derived degree by degree.

The leading tone

Why minor has to borrow the G♯.

Related terms

C majorA majorE minorD minorRelative keyMinorAeolianMinor triadDiatonic chordCircle of fifthsKey

Editor: Maik Krohm · reviewed on 3 October 2026

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