Learn › A Flat Minor Triad Inversions on Guitar: 12 Shapes
New Released in April 2026
A Flat Minor Triad Inversions on Guitar: 12 Shapes
The A flat minor triad on guitar does not need six strings. Three notes, Ab, Cb and Eb, on three strings give you Abm anywhere on the neck, in root position, 1st and 2nd inversion.
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- MIDI keyboard
- Digital or acoustic piano
- Guitar
- Computer, phone or tablet
Three orders of the same three notes
The notes never change, only their order. With Cb or Eb at the bottom, Abm sounds lighter and lets the melody note on top change.
Darker than major: the middle note of the major shape moves down one fret.
How to move between the shapes
Climbing the G-B-e strings: 1st inversion (fret 4) → 2nd inversion (fret 9) → root position (fret 13). Listen to the top note, Ab, Cb, Eb: it is a little melody inside one chord.
Around fret 7, without moving the hand: G-B-e strings 8-9-7; D-G-B strings 6-4-4; A-D-G strings 6-6-4; E-A-D strings 7-6-6.
Twelve Abm shapes, string set by string set
Play only the three strings shown. Inside each set the three shapes follow each other up the neck: when one ends, the next begins.
G-B-e strings
1st inversion
2nd inversion
Root position
D-G-B strings
2nd inversion
Root position
1st inversion
A-D-G strings
1st inversion
2nd inversion
Root position
E-A-D strings
Root position
1st inversion
2nd inversion
A short Abm triad routine
- Learn the three shapes on the top strings first, slowly, saying the bottom note each time.
- Connect the shapes up and down the G-B-e strings, four strums per shape.
- Pick one fret area, around fret 7, and find Abm on every string set without moving your hand far.
- Then test yourself: random chord names, find the closest Abm shape each time.
A few minutes a day on one string set is enough; add the next set next week.
Abm inversions: the frets
| String set | Root position | 1st inversion | 2nd inversion |
|---|---|---|---|
| G-B-e strings | x x x 13 12 11 | x x x 4 4 4 | x x x 8 9 7 |
| D-G-B strings | x x 6 4 4 x | x x 9 8 9 x | x x 1 1 0 x |
| A-D-G strings | x 11 9 8 x x | x 2 1 1 x x | x 6 6 4 x x |
| E-A-D strings | 4 2 1 x x x | 7 6 6 x x x | 11 11 9 x x x |
Frets from the low E string to the high E string; x = string not played.
Test Abm with your guitar
In ChordRunner chord names come one after another and the microphone checks every chord you play, open shape, barre or triad. It runs in the browser.
Play the demoCommon questions
How do you play Abm triads on the top strings?
On the G, B and high E strings: 1st inversion 4-4-4; 2nd inversion 8-9-7; Root position 13-12-11. Play only those three strings.
Which Abm triad shape is the easiest?
Usually the lowest one on the top strings, 4-4-4, because it sits near the nut.
What does a Abm triad sound like?
Darker than major: the middle note of the major shape moves down one fret.
Can I practise Abm with a game that listens to my guitar?
Yes. ChordRunner hears your guitar through the microphone and checks the chord in any shape or inversion. A USB MIDI keyboard works too.
Your instrument is the controller.
ChordRunner is a browser game that teaches piano and guitar chords: a chord appears on screen, you play it on a real instrument, and your runner jumps. MIDI keyboard or microphone, both work.
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