Piano and keyboard lesson - minor chords

These minor chords all use the same shape, it's play-one-miss-one.

Dm = D, F, A If you apply a play-one-miss-one principle, this shape starts on a D note. Colour-coded green on the diagram.

Em = E, G, B Same shape, starts on E. Colour = blue

Am = A , C , E. Same shape, starts on A. Colour = red

The scale that works with these chords is Am pentatonic (pentatonic just means 5-note scale) or C major, C D E F G A B C.

Am pentatonic is the notes A, C, D, E, G, A shown on the lower picture.

These three chords are from the C or Am harmonised scales.

The Harmonised scale of C contains the chords C   Dm   Em   F   G   Am   B dim   C

Any song in this key will use these chords, or some of them, to create harmony.

You can use these three minor chords to play a minor 12-bar blues. They will sound much better if you put a bass note in your left hand, A for an Am chord, etc.

In most situations in pop, rock, blues and country music you can improve the harmony in a very simple way - replace any minor chords with minor 7th (m7) chords.

For Dm7 - just move the D down to a C, the other two notes stay the same. You should have a low D in the bass (left hand) or it's won't work well.

Now, apply the same principle to the Em and Am chords. Em7 is D,G,B in the right hand, low E in the left.

Am7 - just move the A down to G. The notes in the chord are now A,G,C,E left to right.

All other minor chords work in the same way.