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What Is a Minor Third?

What Is a Minor Third?

A minor third is an interval of three half steps — A up to C, or E up to G. It's the interval that makes minor chords sound minor: dark, melancholy, serious. Swap it for a major third (four half steps) and the same chord turns bright.

The shape on the fretboard

From a root on the low E or A string, the minor third sits one string up and two frets back:

Minor third: A to C
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Or stay on one string and count three frets up. Crossing onto the B string? Add one fret, as with every interval shape.

Where you'll meet it

  • Stacked under a major third, it forms a minor triad; stacked on top of a major third, a major triad.
  • It's the gap between a tonic and its relative: A minor sits a minor third below C major.
  • Ear anchor: the first two melody notes of "Greensleeves," or the "Smoke on the Water" riff's first move (more interval songs here).

The full major-vs-minor comparison lives in Major Third vs Minor Third.

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