A♯ Minor Chord on Piano
The A♯ Minor chord is made of 3 notes — A♯4 C♯5 F5. Play it right here in your browser: no install, no sign-up.
What notes are in the A♯ Minor chord?
The A♯ Minor chord is built from A♯4 C♯5 F5. By scale degrees that is 1 · ♭3 · 5 — in other words root · minor 3rd · perfect 5th (0 · 3 · 7 semitones above the root A♯). The root of the chord is A♯, and the other tones are stacked above it in thirds.
What gives the A♯ Minor chord its sound?
A minor chord is the major chord's quieter counterpart — softer, more inward, and the sound most people reach for to express sadness or longing. It shares the same root and perfect fifth as a major chord but lowers the middle note by one semitone to a minor third, three semitones above the root. That single change darkens the whole chord: where the major third made it bright and settled, the minor third gives it a wistful, searching colour.
Minor chords are everywhere in ballads, film scores and rock power anthems. They form the vi in the I–V–vi–IV progression — the bittersweet turn that makes so many pop choruses land — and they are the home chord of any song written in a minor key. Play A♯ minor here and let it ring, then play A♯ major right after: the contrast between the two is one of the most expressive tools in all of music.
Everything here is ready to play in your browser, with no install and no sign-up. The highlighted keys above show exactly where the A♯ Minor chord sits on this keyboard, and Play notes sounds the whole chord at once so you can hear it before you learn it. Carry it over to the online piano and you can play the chord on any of seven real instruments — try it on the Piano, then on the Rhodes or Music Box to hear how the same notes change character — shift it into any key with the Octave and Transpose controls, or hold Space to let it ring like a sustained piano chord.
Chords rarely sound their best in isolation. To put the A♯ Minor chord to work, browse the complete set of piano chords for every root and quality, look at the scales that share these notes, or drop the chord into a real piece from the easy piano songs, where each song has its own playable keyboard. You can also record your own version: use the online piano recorder to capture a short progression built around this chord and download it as an MP3 to keep.
If you are just starting out, the simplest way to learn any chord is to play it slowly, name each note out loud, and then play it in a few different octaves with the Octave control. Once your fingers know the shape, practice switching between this chord and its nearest relative — the one a fifth above or below — until the move feels automatic. That single habit builds the muscle memory behind almost every song you will ever play.
Play the A♯ Minor chord
The highlighted keys below are A♯4 C♯5 F5. Click them, press Play notes to hear the whole chord, or use your computer keyboard.
On this site's default keyboard layout, those notes are at A♯4 = 6, C♯5 = 8, F5 = P.
Chord inversions
In root position, play the tones from lowest to highest: A♯4 C♯5 F5.
First inversion: C♯5 F5 A♯5 — on the default layout at C♯5 = 8, F5 = P, A♯5 = ⌫.
Second inversion: F5 A♯5 C♯6 — on the default layout at F5 = P, A♯5 = ⌫, C♯6 (mouse/touch only).
A♯ Minor in common progressions
The i–VI–III–VII progression is one of the most used in popular music. In the key of A♯ it goes: i — A♯ Minor → VI — F♯ Major → III — C♯ Major → VII — G♯ Major.
Related chords & scales
The relative major of A♯ minor is C♯ major — the two share the same notes.
Frequently asked questions
What notes are in the A♯ Minor chord?
The A♯ Minor chord is built from the notes A♯4, C♯5, F5. The root is A♯, and the other tones are root · minor 3rd · perfect 5th.
How do I play the A♯ Minor chord?
The chord tones are A♯4, C♯5, F5. On this site's default keyboard layout, press the highlighted keys shown above, or click Play notes to hear the full chord.
How is a piano chord built?
Most piano chords are built by stacking notes a third apart, starting from a root. A basic triad adds a third and a fifth above the root; stacking more thirds on top creates 7th chords and beyond. The exact quality of each interval — major, minor, diminished or augmented — is what gives each chord its colour.
What is the Minor chord used for?
The Minor chord has the distinct character described in the section above. In practice it appears wherever that mood is needed — as a resting place, a moment of tension, or a colourful passing chord — and it pairs naturally with the chords listed in the progressions and related sections on this page.