A minor has no sharps or flats. Its seven chords are Am, B°, C, Dm, Em, F, G. It's the relative minor of C major: the same notes and chords, with Am as home.
On the wheel, the minor key's i, iv and v sit together on the inner ring with ♭III, ♭VI and ♭VII right above them. Tap any key on the wheel to go to its page.
Open A minor in the interactive wheel| Number | Chord | 7th chord |
|---|---|---|
| i | Am | Am7 |
| ii° | B° | Bm7♭5 |
| ♭III | C | Cmaj7 |
| iv | Dm | Dm7 |
| v | Em | Em7 |
| ♭VI | F | Fmaj7 |
| ♭VII | G | G7 |
The major V pulls home harder than the minor v (House of the Rising Sun, Hotel California). The major IV is the Dorian sound (Oye Como Va, Get Lucky). Ending on a major I is the old "Picardy" trick.
The same slot on the wheel with a different flavour. Sus chords swap the 3rd for the 2nd or 4th and like to resolve back to the plain chord (Asus4 → Am). add9 adds the 2nd on top of the full chord. These are the common ones whose notes all stay in the key (here: Asus2, Asus4, Cadd9); the small label is the slot they sit in.
A natural minor: A B C D E F G. The key's seven chords are built from these notes; the borrowed and secondary chords above bring in notes from outside it.
The seven chords in A minor are Am, B°, C, Dm, Em, F, G. As 7th chords: Am7, Bm7b5, Cmaj7, Dm7, Em7, Fmaj7, G7.
A minor has no sharps or flats.
C major. It uses exactly the same notes and chords; only the home chord changes.
i bVI bIII bVII: Am F C G; i iv v: Am Dm Em; i bVII bVI V: Am G F E.