Chords in the Key of F Minor

Diatonic triads

Seventh chords

Stack one more scale tone on each triad and you get the seventh chords — same key, more color.

Common progressions in F minor

• i–VI–III–VII

  Fm – Db – Ab – Eb

  The minor pop loop — same four chords as the major axis, started from the minor side.

• i–iv–v

  Fm – Bbm – Cm

  The minor blues shape — all three chords stay minor in the natural scale.

• i–VII–VI

  Fm – Eb – Db

  The descending rock lament, one whole step at a time.

• i–iv–VII–III

  Fm – Bbm – Eb – Ab

  A circle-of-fifths descent — each root falls a fifth to the next.

How the key of F minor works

F Minor carries four flats (Bb, Eb, Ab and Db). The scale runs F–G–Ab–Bb–C–Db–Eb, and stacking every other note of that scale builds the seven chords above — every chord tone comes from those same seven notes.

Ab Major is the relative major: identical key signature, identical seven chords. Treat Ab — the III chord here — as home base and you are in Ab major without changing a note.

The parallel major, F Major, keeps the same root but raises the third, sixth, and seventh — its signature shifts to one flat (Bb). Moving a section from minor to parallel major is one of the oldest brightness tricks in songwriting.

Playing F minor on guitar

None of the chords in F minor is a standard open chord: Fm, Ab, Bbm, Cm, Db and Eb all need barre shapes, which is why most guitarists reach for a capo in this key. The diminished Gdim is usually played as a small three-string shape rather than a full chord.

A capo is the shortcut. With one, the i–VI–III–VII progression (Fm – Db – Ab – Eb) sounds in F minor while you finger open shapes:

• Capo 1 · play it as E minor

  Em – C – G – D

  4 of 4 shapes are open chords.

• Capo 6 · play it as B minor

  Bm – G – D – A

  3 of 4 shapes are open chords.

• Capo 8 · play it as A minor

  Am – F – C – G

  3 of 4 shapes are open chords.

Work out a capo for any song's chords

Where F minor sits on the neck

The root, F, is fret 1 on the low E string and fret 8 on the A string, the two places most minor barre shapes and scale positions in F minor are built from.

Only the open G string is in the key. Watch the open low E (fret 1 gives F), the open A (fret 1 gives Bb), the open D (fret 1 gives Eb), the open B (fret 1 gives C) and the open high E (fret 1 gives F).

One note separates F minor from each neighbour on the circle of fifths. Raise Db to D and you are in C minor; lower G to Gb and you are in Bb minor. Those are the two keys a song in F minor most often modulates to.

Songs in F minor

From the song library, these recordings sound in F minor:

• Smells Like Teen Spirit, Nirvana

Keep practicing

• Practice the F minor scale on the fretboard
• Jam these progressions over a backing track
• Transpose a song into or out of F minor