A♭ Minor
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The A♭ minor chord is a triad formed from a root (A♭), a minor third (C♭) and a perfect fifth (E♭).
How to play A♭ minor on the piano
To find the root of A♭ minor, you'll need to find A♭ on the piano. To do so, look at the black keys in groups of three on the keyboard. The middle black key in those groups of three is A♭.
The A♭ minor chord is made up of the following notes: A♭, C♭ and E♭. The root position chord is played with the following fingers on your right hand:
E♭ - Fifth finger (5)
C♭ - Third finger (3)
A♭ - First finger (1)
Read more: Our guide to major and minor chords.
On your left hand, you'd use the following fingers to play the chord:
E♭ - First finger (1)
C♭ - Third finger (3)
A♭ - Fifth finger (5)
The music you're playing might require you to play the chord with different fingers. To get a sense for how the A♭ minor chord is built, take a look at our video above.
What are the inversions of A♭ minor?
Now that you've learned the root positions of A♭ minor, learning the inversions should be easy. To learn how to play the first and second inversions of the chord, read below.
How to play the first inversion of A♭ minor
To play the first inversion of A♭ minor, place C♭ as the lowest note in the chord. Use the following fingers in your right hand to play the inversion:
A♭ - Fifth finger (5)
E♭ - Second finger (2)
C♭ - First finger (1)
Read more: Our guide to chord inversions.
How to play the second inversion of A♭ minor
For the second inversion of A♭ minor, E♭ becomes the lowest note. With your right hand, play the chord with the following fingers:
C♭ - Fifth finger (5)
A♭ - Third finger (3)
E♭ - First finger (1)