Am is A, C and E. The is the note that makes the triad minor.
uses the major 3rd instead. To hear the difference, lower that note one fret and let become Am.
The major third falls by one fret to become the minor third. Every other note stays the same.
In rock and pop, Am often sits at home in a two-chord vamp with , the major chord a fourth higher.
Also written Amin, A- or A minor.
Rock and pop often rock back and forth between Am and D. The IV is major because the tune is dorian, a minor scale with a raised sixth; make it minor and the sound turns darker, plain minor.
Listen for: The fifth rises a whole step to the raised sixth and back. On the minor iv it rises only a half step.
Heard in“Love Is Blue”“Keep Searchin’” (coda)“Soul Kitchen”
Am is the vi of C major, a third below the I, and shares two of its notes. Keep falling in thirds, C, Am, F, Dm, and above the bass only one note changes at each step, until G closes the phrase.
Listen for: The bass falls a third at a time. Above it one note changes per chord, each a step up: the key’s fifth to its sixth, third to fourth, tonic to second.
Heard in“Johnny Angel”
A minor-key song can cadence on Am, a minor v, instead of the usual major V. With no leading tone the key sounds aeolian rather than minor.
Am, a third above F, can stand in for it. The two share two notes, so the harmony stays the same and only its colour changes.
Heard in “Both Sides Now”
In which keys. Every note of Am belongs to C major, D minor, E minor, F major, G major and A minor.
Contains Am and adds fourth and flat seventh.
Contains Am and adds fourth, sharp eleventh and flat seventh.
Contains Am and adds second, fourth, flat thirteenth and flat seventh.
Contains Am and adds second, fourth, sixth and flat seventh.
Contains Am and adds flat second, fourth, flat thirteenth and flat seventh.
The common shapes and the derived voicings come from different places, and both are explained in how this site is built.
Shows each chord the way this style would voice it, and marks which of its alternatives belong to the idiom.