F Minor: Notes, Chords and Scale
F minor is a minor key. Its key signature has 4 flats: B♭, E♭, A♭, D♭. Its scale is F, G, A♭, B♭, C, D♭, E♭, and its seven diatonic chords are Fm, Gdim, A♭, B♭m, Cm, D♭, E♭. Below are the 7th chords, Roman numerals, related keys, the Camelot code and a keyboard diagram.
Key signature
4♭
Relative key
Parallel key
Camelot code
4A
Notes
F G A♭ B♭ C D♭ E♭
Chords in F minor
- iFmF A♭ C
- ii°GdimG B♭ D♭
- IIIA♭A♭ C E♭
- ivB♭mB♭ D♭ F
- vCmC E♭ G
- VID♭D♭ F A♭
- VIIE♭E♭ G B♭
Seventh chords
- i7Fm7F A♭ C E♭
- iiø7Gm7♭5G B♭ D♭ F
- IIImaj7A♭maj7A♭ C E♭ G
- iv7B♭m7B♭ D♭ F A♭
- v7Cm7C E♭ G B♭
- VImaj7D♭maj7D♭ F A♭ C
- VII7E♭7E♭ G B♭ D♭
How to use these chords
- i, iv and v (Fm, B♭m, Cm) are the primary chords. The v chord is often played major, as V (C) or V7 (C7), taken from the harmonic minor scale, which raises E♭ to E.
- III, VI and VII (A♭, D♭, E♭) are major chords. They are the I, IV and V chords of the relative major, A♭ major.
- ii° (Gdim) is a diminished chord and often leads to V.
- Common progressions, in Roman numerals: i VI III VII (Fm, D♭, A♭, E♭); i iv V (Fm, B♭m, C); i VII VI V (Fm, E♭, D♭, C).
Common uses of F minor
- F minor shares its seven notes and its key signature with its relative major, A♭ major.
- On a piano, 4 of its seven notes are black keys.
- It reads easily for horn sections: B♭ instruments such as trumpet, clarinet and tenor saxophone read it as G minor, and E♭ alto saxophone reads it as D minor.
- In the Camelot system DJs use for harmonic mixing, F minor is 4A; tracks in 3A, 5A and 4B usually mix smoothly with it.
- Open F minor in the Scale and Chord Finder
- Find your song's key from the audio: Detect Key and BPM
- Camelot Wheel: 4A
- Write chords or MIDI in F minor with MIDI LabMIDI Lab, from the same team as SongTools, writes chord progressions, bass, drums and melody as MIDI from a prompt.
- A♭ major: notes and chords
- All 24 major and minor keys
Questions about F minor
What chords are in F minor?
The seven chords in F minor are Fm, Gdim, A♭, B♭m, Cm, D♭, E♭ (i, ii°, III, iv, v, VI, VII). As seventh chords they are Fm7, Gm7♭5, A♭maj7, B♭m7, Cm7, D♭maj7, E♭7.
What notes are in the F minor scale?
F, G, A♭, B♭, C, D♭, E♭. Its key signature has 4 flats: B♭, E♭, A♭, D♭.
What is the relative major of F minor?
A♭ major. It uses the same seven notes and key signature as F minor, starting from A♭. The parallel major, F major, starts on the same note as F minor but has a different key signature.
What is the Camelot code for F minor?
4A. Next to it on the Camelot wheel are 3A and 5A, and 4B is its relative major, A♭ major.