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 1st and 2nd inversions of the chord, read below.

How to play the 1st inversion of A♭ minor

To play the 1st inversion of A♭ minor, place the 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 2nd inversion of A♭ minor

For the 2nd inversion of A♭ minor, the 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)

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