# F Minor 7th piano chord (Fm7)

Fm7 contains F, A♭, C and E♭. A minor triad with the minor seventh added on top. A♭ and E♭ are black keys; F and C are white.

- Canonical page: https://piano.org/chords/minor-7th/f/
- Entity: chord:minor-7th:f
- Notes: F A♭ C E♭
- Formula: 1 ♭3 5 ♭7
- Intervals from root: P1, m3, P5, m7
- Interval stack (semitones): 3 4 3
- Also written: Fm7, Fm7, F minor 7th
- Parameters: A440, 12-TET, 165 mm octave, spans centre to centre

## Construction

| Degree | Note | Interval from root | Semitones |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | F | Perfect unison | 0 |
| ♭3 | A♭ | Minor third | 3 |
| 5 | C | Perfect fifth | 7 |
| ♭7 | E♭ | Minor seventh | 10 |

## Fingering

Rest your right hand over the notes with finger 1 on F, finger 2 on A♭, finger 3 on C, finger 5 on E♭. The left hand mirrors it.
Right hand 1-2-3-5, left hand 5-3-2-1. Source: piano.org fingering method v1.

## Inversions

| Position | Bass | Notes in order | Figured bass | Span |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Root position | F | F3 A♭3 C4 E♭4 | 7 | 10 st, 138 mm |
| First inversion (Fm7/A♭) | A♭ | A♭3 C4 E♭4 F4 | 6/5 | 9 st, 124 mm |
| Second inversion (Fm7/C) | C | C4 E♭4 F4 A♭4 | 4/3 | 8 st, 110 mm |
| Third inversion (Fm7/E♭) | E♭ | E♭4 F4 A♭4 C5 | 4/2 | 9 st, 124 mm |

## Voicings (10)

| Voicing | Notes | Span | Relation | Omits or adds |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Close, root position | F3 A♭3 C4 E♭4 | 10 st, 138 mm | identical | none |
| Close, first inversion | A♭3 C4 E♭4 F4 | 9 st, 124 mm | identical | none |
| Close, second inversion | C4 E♭4 F4 A♭4 | 8 st, 110 mm | identical | none |
| Close, third inversion | E♭4 F4 A♭4 C5 | 9 st, 124 mm | identical | none |
| Drop 2 | C3 F3 A♭3 E♭4 | 15 st, 206 mm | identical | none |
| Drop 3 | A♭2 F3 C4 E♭4 | 19 st, 261 mm | identical | none |
| Drop 2 and 4 | F2 C3 A♭3 E♭4 | 22 st, 303 mm | identical | none |
| Shell, root ♭7 ♭3 | F2 E♭3 A♭3 | 15 st, 206 mm | subset | omits C |
| Guide tones, ♭3 and ♭7 | A♭3 E♭4 | 7 st, 96 mm | subset | omits F and C |
| Rootless close | A♭3 C4 E♭4 | 7 st, 96 mm | subset | omits F |

## Diatonic function by key

| Key | Roman numeral | Function |
| --- | --- | --- |
| C minor | ivm7 | Subdominant |
| D♭ major | iiim7 | Tonic substitute |
| E♭ major | iim7 | Predominant |
| F minor | im7 | Tonic, home |
| A♭ major | vim7 | Tonic substitute |
| B♭ minor | vm7 | Minor dominant |

Classification system: common-practice functional harmony.

## Progressions (8)

| Progression | Key | Role | Sequence | Voice leading |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| iv, v, i | C minor | ivm7 | Fm7 to Gm7 to Cm7 | Fm7 opens the phrase |
| i, iv | C minor | ivm7 | Cm7 to Fm7 | 2 tones held from Cm7 |
| iii, vi, ii, V | D♭ major | iiim7 | Fm7 to B♭m7 to E♭m7 to A♭7 | Fm7 opens the phrase |
| I, iii | D♭ major | iiim7 | D♭maj7 to Fm7 | 3 tones held from D♭maj7 |
| ii, V, I | E♭ major | iim7 | Fm7 to B♭7 to E♭maj7 | Fm7 opens the phrase |
| ii, v, i | F minor | im7 | Gm7♭5 to Cm7 to Fm7 | 2 tones held from Cm7 |
| iv, i | F minor | im7 | B♭m7 to Fm7 | 2 tones held from B♭m7 |
| i, ♭VI, ii, v | F minor | im7 | Fm7 to D♭maj7 to Gm7♭5 to Cm7 | Fm7 opens the phrase |

## One-edit neighbors

| Becomes | Edit | Changes | Common tones |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Fm9 | 1 ♭3 5 ♭7 9 | adds G | 4 |
| Fm | 1 ♭3 5 | drops E♭ | 3 |
| F7 | 1 3 5 ♭7 | A♭ becomes A | 3 |
| FmMaj7 | 1 ♭3 5 7 | E♭ becomes E | 3 |
| Fm7♭5 | 1 ♭3 ♭5 ♭7 | C becomes C♭ | 3 |
| F7sus4 | 1 4 5 ♭7 | A♭ becomes B♭ | 3 |
| Fm6 | 1 ♭3 5 6 | E♭ becomes D | 3 |
| F9 | 1 3 5 ♭7 9 | A♭ becomes A, G | 3 |
| F | 1 3 5 | A♭, E♭ becomes A | 2 |
| Fdim | 1 ♭3 ♭5 | C, E♭ becomes C♭ | 2 |
| Fsus2 | 1 2 5 | A♭, E♭ becomes G | 2 |
| Fsus4 | 1 4 5 | A♭, E♭ becomes B♭ | 2 |

## Set theory

- Absolute pitch classes: {5, 8, 0, 3}
- Relative pitch classes: [0, 3, 7, 10]
- Normal order: [0, 3, 5, 8]
- Prime form: (0358)
- Forte number: 4-26
- Interval vector: <012120>

## Frequencies (close root position)

| Note | MIDI | Frequency |
| --- | --- | --- |
| F3 | 53 | 174.61 Hz |
| A♭3 | 56 | 207.65 Hz |
| C4 | 60 | 261.63 Hz |
| E♭4 | 63 | 311.13 Hz |

## Questions and answers

### What notes are in Fm7?

Fm7 contains F, A♭, C and E♭. The formula is 1, ♭3, 5, ♭7.

### How do you play Fm7 on piano?

Play F, A♭, C and E♭ together. Right hand fingers 1, 2, 3, 5; left hand 5, 3, 2, 1. A♭ and E♭ are black keys; F and C are white.

### What are the inversions of Fm7?

4 positions: root position F A♭ C E♭, Fm7/A♭, Fm7/C, Fm7/E♭.

### What keys contain Fm7?

6: ivm7 in C minor, iiim7 in D♭ major, iim7 in E♭ major, im7 in F minor, vim7 in A♭ major, vm7 in B♭ minor.

### What is the difference between Fm7 and Fm9?

Adds G. 4 of the notes are shared.

### What is an easy Fm7 for small hands?

The guide tones, ♭3 and ♭7 voicing, A♭3 E♭4, spans 7 semitones or about 96 mm.

### What are the frequencies of Fm7?

From F3 at A440 in 12-TET: 174.61, 207.65, 261.63, 311.13 Hz.

### What is the set class of Fm7?

Prime form (0358), Forte 4-26, interval vector &lt;012120&gt;.

### How do I transpose Fm7 to another key?

Keep the 1, ♭3, 5, ♭7 formula on the new root. Cm7 is C, E♭, G, B♭; C♯m7 is C♯, E, G♯, B.

## Provenance

Every derived value above is computed by the piano.org theory kernel from the root, the quality and the stated parameters. Nothing is hand-entered per chord.

Machine record: https://piano.org/api/knowledge/v1/entities/chord:minor-7th:f
Last reviewed: 2026-08-12