Am piano chord — the keys, the inversions, the theory

Am is a minor chord built from A, C, E. Below: the keys to press, every inversion with its own diagram, the intervals it is made of, the keys whose scale contains it, and a progression that actually uses it. Press any diagram to hear it.

Am

A · C · E

Piano keyboardC4C5

Semitones above the root: 0 – 3 – 7

The third is minor — one semitone lower than in a major chord — which is where the darker colour comes from.

Inversions of Am

  • Root position

    A · C · E · bass A

  • Inversion 1

    C · E · A · bass C

  • Inversion 2

    E · A · C · bass E

Same chord, different note at the bottom. Press a diagram to hear it — inversions are how you move between chords without jumping your hand across the keyboard.

Keys that contain Am

  • Cvi
  • Gii
  • Fiii

In C it does this job: I – V – vi – IV

  1. C
  2. G
  3. Am
  4. F

Questions