The Guitar Source

Part 3 - Harmony

Minor triads are derived from the minor scale, and are the basis of the minor chord.

They differ from the major triad in that they have a MINOR THIRD instead of a major third, which basically means we flatten the third note (move it down one semitone or one fret). Let's look at the natural minor scale, in the key of A:

To form a minor triad, we again take the 1^st (A), 3^rd (C) and 5^th (E) notes and play them together. The 3^rd note is flattened when compared with the major triad, all other notes stay the same. So, the fingering will be:

For example if you wanted to know C minor, you would find that it contains the notes C (1^st), E^b(^b3^rd) and G (5^th) from the C major scale.

For D minor you would use the notes D (1^st), F (^b3^rd) and A (5^th).

For E minor you would use the notes E (1^st), G (^b3^rd) and B (5^th).

For F minor you would use the notes F (1^st), A^b (^b3^rd) and C (5^th).

For G minor you would use the notes G (1^st), B^b (^b3^rd) and D (5^th).

For B minor you would use the notes B (1^st), D (^b3^rd) and F^#(5^th).

The following diagram shows the difference between a C major and C minor triad. You will see there is only one note different - the third note is flattened (moved down one fret).