Minor 7th chord · F root
Fm7 chord
- F1
- Ab♭3
- C5
- Eb♭7
The F minor 7th chord is built from the notes F, Ab, C, Eb. It turns up 5 times in the 104 songs on this site, including All of Me and Blue Bossa.
By Chiye · Updated
What is the Fm7 chord?
The Fm7 chord (F minor 7th) is a minor 7th chord built from four notes: F, Ab, C, Eb — the 1–♭3–5–♭7 of the F scale, 3 semitones and 7 semitones and 10 semitones above the root. On guitar it is most often played as a movable shape from fret 1 (1-3-1-1-1-1); shift all fretted notes together to transpose it along the neck. It is rated intermediate. The smooth workhorse of funk, R&B and lo-fi. Across the 104 song sheets in this site's library, Fm7 appears 5 times in 3 songs, most often in the keys of Cm and Dm, and the chord it most often moves to is A#7. Below you will find step-by-step fingering, 3 positions up the neck, audio of every shape, and the real progressions this chord lives inside.
How do you play the Fm7 chord on guitar?
Fret 1 barre — a movable shape, so this same fingering works for every root note.
- Lay your index finger flat across the low E to high E strings at fret 1, rolled slightly onto its bony edge.
- Press the A string at fret 3 with your ring finger.
- Strum all six strings and let every one ring.
Leave out the lowest fretted note (low E string) and practise the remaining strings. The bass changes, and the upper strings may still need a smaller barre; check that the third and other colour tones stay clear. x-3-1-1-1-1
How do you make Fm7 sound clean?
Fm7 at the 1st fret needs the same barre control as F but with a looser index, which feels contradictory until it clicks.
Loop Fm7, Bb7 and Ebmaj7, the ii–V–I of Eb major. Fm7 and Bb7 start at fret 1 on different root strings; Ebmaj7 is higher, at fret 6.
In real songs
What songs use the Fm7 chord?
- chord changes
- 5
- songs
- 3
- common keys
- Cm · Dm
Across the 104 chord sheets on this site, Fm7 appears 5 times in 3 songs — most often in the keys of Cm and Dm.
FFm7CA7
Fm7Fm7A#7A#7
Fm7A#7D#maj7D#maj7
Chord flow
What chord comes after Fm7?
The counts come from our own song library — 1879 chord changes in total — which makes them a snapshot of real songs instead of a rule of thumb.
Three-chord moves
Three-chord moves are where a chord really shows its character. These are the ones that actually happen in this library, counted from the sheets:
What other ways can you play Fm7 up the neck?
2 more positions below. These are the same notes in a different part of the neck. Choosing the position closest to the chord you just played is what stops your hand jumping between changes.
Position 2 · Fret 3 barre
Because nothing rings open, you can move this whole shape to any fret and it keeps the same quality — only the letter name changes.
A single bar covers the rest of the strings here. If the inside strings stay dead, move the bar a millimetre closer to the fret wire before you try pressing harder.
Position 3 · Fret 8 barre
Every note here is fretted, which means the shape transposes anywhere on the neck without changing your fingers.
The barre is the only hard part of this shape. Keep the bar finger straight and use the weight of your arm rather than the grip of your thumb.
The theory behind Fm7
Fm7 is spelled F – Ab – C – Eb — the 1 – ♭3 – 5 – ♭7 of the F scale, which is the root plus 3 semitones, 7 semitones, 10 semitones. The smooth workhorse of funk, R&B and lo-fi.
The flat seventh softens the minor third, which is why m7 chords sit comfortably under a vocal. In practice you will use Fm7 far more often than the plain minor triad in anything funky or jazzy.
Fm7 on other instruments
F – Ab – C – Eb — the highlighted black keys are the sharps or flats; play each note once, then move them into one hand position.
Take it to the practice room
