What are some of the most common minor keys?

[OliveCorduroy]

Hello all,

I want to try and practice chord progressions in the minor keys and possibly write some songs using minor keys but I am just not sure what the more common ones used in music and more geared toward guitar. All I can really find is that Am is probably the most popular one used. What are other ones that are commonly used?

Thanks,
George

[KevWind]

It would to some degree depend genre . But but for songwriting ( it doesn't really matter what is "common" ) just start trying different one and see if one catches your fancy.

[j3ffr0]

Am, Em, Bm

[ChrisE]

You might want to start with D minor. It's the saddest of all keys.

[J Patrick]

...i'd guess that Am Em and Dm are the most common as they are the easiest to play in open position.....

[Kerbie]

I agree with Am, Em and Dm.

Seems logical... the relative minors of C, G and F, respectively.

[Llewlyn]

Originally Posted by j3ffr0

Am, Em, Bm

This.

Ll.

[YeOldRocker]

They're all common, especially if you use/include full or partial barre chords in your playing. Every major chord has a relative minor, so it would belong in that particular key; if you're talking mostly first-position chords, the "easiest" (IMO) are Em (relates to G), Am (relates to C) and Bm (relates to D), and Dm (relates to F).

[stanron]

On guitar, the keys that have a root on open bass strings will be the easiest for a beginner to get good results. You can play an open bass string and let it ring whilst you play other strings at various frets. So, in normal tuning, Em Am and Dm are first choice. Change your low E for D and Dm would sound good.

[JonPR]

On guitar, Am and Em are the easiest minor keys by far. Dm is not too bad, but other minor keys require more barre chords, which makes them rarer.

Open chords in A minor: Am, Dm, Em, C, G, E, E7 - and D(7) for A dorian.
Barre chords required: F.

Open chords in E minor: Em, Am, B7, G, C, D; and A(7) for E dorian
Barre chords required: none (unless you want Bm or B major.)

Open chords in D minor: Dm, Am, A, A7, C; and G(7) for D dorian.
Barre chords required: Gm, F, Bb.

Open chords in B minor: Em, D, G, A; E(7) for B dorian.
Barre chords required: Bm (important!), F#(7), F#m.

Other minor keys require mostly barre chords. Of course, for any guitarist comfortable with those, they can play in any minor key they like, as well as using barre versions of chords in the above keys.

And even a guitarist who fears barre chords can use a capo to transpose a tough key to an easy one (eg to get a key to suit their voice).

[OliveCorduroy]

Thank you for all the feedback everyone...you have given me a good place to start...barre chords are not much of a problem so I am going to start out with the ones everyone has suggested in first position and then try them out using barre chords....and then try some of the rarer ones...again, thanks for the input everyone...😀

[vbakh]

Am, Em, Dm, Bm - play in all of them and more. It's a very useful exercise.

I love playing old slow ballads in minor keys: Autumn Leaves, My Funny Valentine, Charade, Speak Softly Love, Lullaby of Birdland, Summertime ...

[SunnyDee]

Originally Posted by OliveCorduroy

Thank you for all the feedback everyone...you have given me a good place to start...barre chords are not much of a problem so I am going to start out with the ones everyone has suggested in first position and then try them out using barre chords....and then try some of the rarer ones...again, thanks for the input everyone...��

I actually really like playing in F#m, because the I, IV, V are all easy changes with barre chords and all the major chords are open, makes for nice choruses. What key you play in, imo, should depend on the sound you want (for your voice, maybe?) and the fingerings you want to use. They are all good.