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The Am7 chord

Same fingering as Am with one finger lifted, and a folk-rock staple from Joni Mitchell to Coldplay. The Am7 (A - C - E - G) is a minor seventh, which is why it sounds a minor that breathes more than it broods. Writers pick it for a smoother minor that doesn't sit too heavy, and you can find it across the jazz standards canon. On guitar the chord sits naturally where most players already park their hand; on piano it stacks straight up under the right hand. The page below covers the voicings worth memorising, the theory, the progressions where the Am7 earns its keep, and the records that lean on it.

Hear the Am7 in the chord builder →

Voicings for Am7

Common ways to grip the Am7 on guitar and piano. Guitar diagrams read low E to high E left-to-right; an × means muted, an open circle above the nut means an open string. Filled dots are fretted notes.

Guitar , full chord shapes

CAGED-derived voicings for Am7 across the neck. Pick the shape closest to where your hand already sits.

Guitar: Em7 shape at fr.5

Notes: A - C - E - G (chord tones)

Guitar: Am7 shape

Notes: A - C - E - G (chord tones)

Guitar: Dm7 shape at fr.7

Notes: A - C - E - G (chord tones)

Guitar: Cm7 shape (movable) at fr.12

Notes: A - C - E - G (chord tones)

Guitar: top-4 voicing

Notes: A - C - E - G (chord tones)

Guitar , triad shapes

Three-note voicings on three adjacent strings. Light textures for arpeggios, pop layering and chord-melody work.

Triad: top-string triad

Notes: 3-note voicing on adjacent strings

Triad: middle-string triad

Notes: 3-note voicing on adjacent strings

Triad: bass-side triad

Notes: 3-note voicing on adjacent strings

Piano voicings

Root position and inversions. The bass note matters: each inversion changes how the chord sits under a melody.

Piano: root position

Notes: A - C - E - G. Root A at the bottom. The classic stacked-thirds spelling of a minor seventh.

Piano: first inversion

Notes: C - E - G - A. C at the bottom. Common in chord-melody, walking bass lines and gentler voicings.

Piano: second inversion

Notes: E - G - A - C. E at the bottom. A floating, suspended feel often used in hymns and ballads.

Piano: third inversion

Notes: G - A - C - E. G at the bottom. The seventh in the bass , a smooth jazz favourite.

The theory behind Am7

The Am7 chord (A - C - E - G) is a minor seventh. Its intervals are root, minor third, perfect fifth, minor seventh. Functionally it lives at home in a closely related major key as the passing chord, but you'll also find it in a closely related major key as the passing chord. The chord tends to walk into a dominant seventh a fifth above, which is why it shows up in jazz standards and neo-soul.

Progressions that use Am7

Short progressions that put the Am7 to work. Each one is shown in a different key so you can pick the one that suits your singer.

i→iv→V key of A minor

Am7 (as passing colour)

This chord appears as a borrowed or passing chord in many minor-key progressions.

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Songs that feature Am7

Real records where this chord does structural work. No lyrics quoted, just the title and artist so you can pull up a copy and hear it in context.

Stairway to Heaven by Led Zeppelin. Am7 colour within the iconic opening.
Dreams by Fleetwood Mac. Am7 as the resolving chord of the loop.
Riptide by Vance Joy. Am7 colour over the famous chord progression.

Related chords

Chords a step away from the Am7 in the songwriting circle, the natural neighbours when you want a substitution.

TriadA DomA7 Maj7Amaj7 NeighbourE NeighbourEm NeighbourE7 NeighbourD NeighbourDm

Keys where Am7 lives

The keys where this chord turns up diatonically. Open any key page for the full set of progressions that lean on it.

C major A minor

More songwriting tools

Got the chord but still wrestling with the lyric? Find the right rhyme in RhymeForge, or break a writer's block with the unexpected word-pair generator in CollisionLab. Need to map a full progression? The chord builder on the home page is where the Am7 fits into context. All free, no signup.

About the chord builder

The Undercover Zest chord progression builder is a free interactive tool that maps every diatonic and borrowed chord in every key. Click a Roman numeral to hear it, drag chords into a progression, then audition voicings, inversions and tensions until the song clicks.

This page is a static reference for the Am7. For interactive playback, voice-leading hints and substitution suggestions, open the chord builder above.