C minor: chord and scale

The C minor chord (Cm) on guitar and piano

C E♭ G

Cm is C, E♭ and G: the keynote, the minor third and the fifth. Written Cm, Cmin or C−. It's the chord a song in C minor comes home to, the i in the table below.

Guitar: x 3 5 5 4 3 (low E to high E, x = not played). A barre: the index finger flat across the 3rd fret from the A string, middle finger on the B string at the 4th, ring and little finger on the D and G strings at the 5th; low E stays silent. It's the open Am shape moved up 3 frets.

Easier shape: x x x 5 4 3 the top three strings only, no full barre: the same chord, thinner. Or a capo at the 3rd fret and an open Am, x 0 2 2 1 0 counted from the capo. Cm7, x 3 5 3 4 3, adds B♭, a softer colour of the same chord.

Ukulele: 0 3 3 3 (G C E A): G, E♭, G and C, the G string open.

Piano: C (white), E♭ (black) and G (white): a C major chord with the middle note one key lower. Right hand 1 3 5, left hand 5 3 1; inverted, E♭ G C and G C E♭ are the same chord. Cm/G means the same chord with G in the bass.

Play Cm

C blues scale · C minor pentatonic scale · C minor scale on guitar · C minor scale on piano · C harmonic minor scale

The C minor scale

C D E♭ F G A♭ B♭

Key signature: three flats, written B♭ E♭ A♭. Whole and half steps: W H W W H W W, the natural minor, with the half steps between D and E♭ and between G and A♭.

Harmonic minor raises the seventh to B: the chord on the fifth degree turns major (G, G7) and pulls back to C.

Harmonic minor, the seventh raised: C D E♭ F G A♭ B. Melodic minor, the sixth and seventh raised going up, natural coming down: C D E♭ F G A B.

Play harmonic minor Play melodic minor

In Hz, from the keynote in octave 4: C4 261.6 · D4 293.7 · E♭4 311.1 · F4 349.2 · G4 392.0 · A♭4 415.3 · B♭4 466.2

Play the scale

C minor scale on piano

The fingering of C major: right hand 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5, left hand 5 4 3 2 1 3 2 1. The third finger falls on E♭ and A♭ in both hands, so the thumb stays on white keys.

C minor scale on guitar

From the 3rd fret of the A string: A 3 5 6, D 3 5 6, G 3 5. From the 8th fret of the low E string: E 8 10 11, A 8 10 11, D 8 10.

The chords in C minor

Tap a chord to hear it.

The loop plays i–VI–III–VII: Cm A♭ E♭ B♭.

C minor chord progressions

• i–VI–III–VII Cm A♭ E♭ B♭: the loop above.
• i–iv–V Cm Fm G7: the classical cadence, G7 borrowed from the harmonic minor.
• i–VI–VII Cm A♭ B♭: the rising minor turn of film scores and trap.
• i–VII–VI–V Cm B♭ A♭ G: the Andalusian cadence, stepping down to G.
• ii°–V–i Dm7♭5 G7 Cm: the minor jazz cadence.

Keys that mix with C minor

On the Camelot wheel C minor is 5A (Open Key 10m). Tracks in these keys mix without a clash:

• 5B E♭ major relative major, the same seven notes
• 4A F minor one step down
• 6A G minor one step up
• 7A D minor two steps up, the energy boost

E♭ major is the relative major: the same three flats and seven notes, E♭ as home, so it's the usual answer to "what is the alternate key for C minor". C major, the parallel major, keeps C as home with no flats.

Pieces and songs in C minor

Beethoven's Symphony No. 5 (1808), his Piano Sonata No. 8 "Pathétique", Op. 13, and Piano Concerto No. 3; Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 24 (K. 491) and Great Mass (K. 427); Chopin's "Revolutionary" Étude Op. 10 No. 12; Bach's Passacaglia and Fugue (BWV 582); Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2 (1901). The Fifth opens on G G G E♭, the fifth and third of the C minor chord. Pop: Adele's "Rolling in the Deep". Rachmaninoff's famous Prelude, Op. 3 No. 2, is in C♯ minor, a semitone higher; his C minor prelude is Op. 23 No. 7.

Questions about C minor

Is C minor the same as C sharp minor?

No. C♯ minor is a semitone higher, with four sharps. The C♯ minor scale is C♯ D♯ E F♯ G♯ A B (harmonic: B♯ for B). The two scales share only two sounding notes, E♭ (D♯) and A♭ (G♯).

What is the harmonic minor of C?

C D E♭ F G A♭ B: the natural minor with B♭ raised to B.

How many flats does C minor have?

Three: B♭, E♭ and A♭, the same as E♭ major.

What plays

Drums, an organ bass and a pluck, the Brumm app's own sounds, four bars at 123 BPM, one chord per bar. The arrows move bass and chords a semitone; the drums stay.

Where C minor sits

Choir parts (soprano C4–G5, alto G3–D5, tenor C3–G4, bass F2–D4, where two part-writing guides agree): C4–C5 fits the soprano and alto parts; C3–C4 fits the tenor and bass parts. Find your own range.

As a sub or an 808, the keynote is C1 at 32.7 Hz, near the bottom of what club systems play, or C2 at 65.4 Hz an octave up. C1 is below a four-string bass's open E (41.2 Hz): bassists reach it on a five-string or tuned down. Tune an 808 to C.

Then hum over it

The hum button opens Brumm with a short line in the key over a beat. Hum yours and it becomes an instrument. No account, no upload.

Sources

Scales and chords: Open Music Theory, musictheory.net. Camelot, Open Key: Mixed In Key, Mixgraph. Open strings: Wikipedia. Choir parts: Open Music Theory, Geneseo. Guitar shapes: Wikipedia, Barre chord. Hz: A4 = 440 Hz, ISO 16.

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