HOW TO PLAY
A# Minor
From your perspective:
STEP BY STEP
How to play a A# Minor chord on the guitar
- Make a barre with your first finger on the first fret.
- Put your second finger on the second fret of the second string.
- Put your third finger on the third fret of the fourth string.
- Put your fourth finger on the third fret of the third string.
- Strum only the highest five strings.
THEORY
A# Minor is a minor triad, three notes stacked on top of one another. The root, a minor third, and a perfect fifth:
In addition to being the root of A# Minor, it is also the vi chord of C# Major.
Here are those notes on a piano keyboard:
Here is how those notes are actually distributed across your fretboard in this version of A# Minor:
HOW IT’S USED
You’ll frequently encounter A#m as the vi chord of C# Major. Here is that classic I-V-vi-IV:
C#
|
G#
|
A#m
|
F#
|
In the key of A# Minor itself, with a little respelling, those chords become the III, VII, i, and VI. You might see them arranged like so:
A#m
|
F#
|
C#
|
G#
|
Let’s get rid of those major chords, though. Moving from the diminished ii°, to the v, and back to the i:
B#dim7
|
E#m
|
A#m
|
You can also play the dimished chord as ‘half-diminished’ seventh—a little gentler:
B#m7b5
|
E#m
|
A#m
|
You might also see a i-iv-VII:
A#m
|
D#m
|
G#
|
SEE ALSO
Chords that frequently accompany A#m in the key of C# Major:
More important chords in the key of A# Minor: