Am7 Guitar Chord (A Minor 7th)

The Am7 guitar chord (A minor 7th) has 4 notes: A, C, E and G. Below you'll find 4 shapes with diagrams, how to play it step by step, the keys it belongs to and common progressions that use it.

Am7 guitar chord: x0201021EADGBE
x02010 · open position
Notes
A – C – E – G
Formula
1 – ♭3 – 5 – ♭7
Type
minor 7th
Difficulty
easy

Transpose a song

All 4 ways to play Am7 on guitar

  • Am7 guitar chord: x0201021
    x02010 open position
  • Am7 guitar chord: x022132314
    x02213 open position
  • Am7 guitar chord: 5755555fr13
    575555 at the 5th fret
  • Am7 guitar chord: xx79887fr1423
    xx7988 at the 7th fret

Diagrams: strings run from the lowest on the left; X = don't play, O = open string, numbers = fingers (1 index, 2 middle, 3 ring, 4 little finger).

How to play Am7 on guitar

Main shape: x02010 (open position).

  1. Put your middle finger (2) on the 2nd fret of the D (4th) string.
  2. Put your index finger (1) on the 1st fret of the B (2nd) string.
  3. Let the A (5th), G (3rd) and high E (1st) strings ring open (marked O).
  4. Don't play the low E (6th) string (marked X).
  5. Strum from the A (5th) string down (5 strings).

Am7 notes and intervals

NoteFormulaInterval from the root
A 1 root
C ♭3 minor 3rd
E 5 perfect 5th
G ♭7 minor 7th

Inversions: the same notes with another one in the bass, written as slash chords: Am7/C (1st inversion), Am7/E (2nd inversion) and Am7/G (3rd inversion).

Am7 or AM7? A small "m" means minor: Am7 is A minor 7th (A, C, E and G). A capital "M", as in AM7, means major 7th: the same chord as Amaj7.

Am7 on piano and ukulele

  • Am7 piano chord: A C E GACEG
    Am7 on piano A – C – E – G
  • Am7 ukulele chord: 0000
    Am7 on ukulele 0000

Which keys use Am7?

Am7 is one of the basic chords of 6 keys. Its number (Roman numeral) and job change with the key:

KeyWrittenNumeralFunction
C major Am7 vi7 tonic
A minor Am7 i7 tonic
F major Am7 iii7 tonic or dominant
G major Am7 ii7 predominant
D minor Am7 v7 dominant
E minor Am7 iv7 predominant

Progressions with Am7

  • ii–V–I in G major: Am7 – D7 – Gmaj7 A cadence that is extremely common in jazz.
  • iiø–V–i in A minor: Bm7♭5 – E7 – Am7 The minor ii–V–i of jazz.

Transpose Am7

Move the chord up or down by semitones to see its name and notes in another key.

Am7 A C E G original

Minor 7th chords on every root: Em7 Fm7 F♯m7 Gm7 A♭m7 Am7B♭m7 Bm7 Cm7 C♯m7 Dm7E♭m7

Frequently asked questions

What notes are in the Am7 chord?

Am7 has 4 notes: A, C, E and G. Its formula is 1 – ♭3 – 5 – ♭7: A is the root, C a minor 3rd, E a perfect 5th and G a minor 7th above it.

What key is Am7 in?

Am7 is vi7 in C major, i7 in A minor, iii7 in F major, ii7 in G major, v7 in D minor and iv7 in E minor. The other 7th chords of C major are Cmaj7, Dm7, Em7, Fmaj7, G7 and Bm7♭5.

How do you play Am7 on guitar?

The shape in the main diagram is x02010 (open position).

  1. Put your middle finger (2) on the 2nd fret of the D (4th) string.
  2. Put your index finger (1) on the 1st fret of the B (2nd) string.
  3. Let the A (5th), G (3rd) and high E (1st) strings ring open (marked O).
  4. Don't play the low E (6th) string (marked X).
  5. Strum from the A (5th) string down (5 strings).
What is a minor 7th chord?

A minor 7th chord is a minor chord plus a minor 7th (1–♭3–5–♭7). In a major key, the ii, iii and vi chords are minor 7ths.

How many ways can you play Am7 on guitar?

This page shows 4 shapes: x02010 (open position), x02213 (open position), 575555 (at the 5th fret) and xx7988 (at the 7th fret). All of them contain the chord's essential notes.

Is Am7 hard to play on guitar?

No: the easiest shape (x02010) has no barre and uses 2 fingers, so it is one of the easier chords to learn. (Difficulty here is a rough guide based on barres, stretches and the number of fingers.)

More chords

Related guitar chords: Bm7 Cm7 A Amaj7 A5 Gm7 Em7 Adim

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