Chords in the Key of C Minor

What are the chords in C minor?

Take the C minor scale — C D Eb F G Ab Bb — and build a chord on each note by stacking every other scale note on top of it. Those seven chords are the chords in the key:

• Cm — i, minor, built on C
• Ddim — ii°, diminished, built on D
• Eb — III, major, built on Eb
• Fm — iv, minor, built on F
• Gm — v, minor, built on G
• Ab — VI, major, built on Ab
• Bb — VII, major, built on Bb

The pattern of qualities is the same in every minor key — only the letters change. Learn the numerals and you can find the chords of any key in seconds.

Which chords to play first

Cm, Fm and Gm — the i, iv and v — carry most songs in C minor. Add Ab (the VI) and Bb (the VII) for the classic minor-key turnaround.

• Bittersweet Loop — 6m–4–1–5 — Cm – Ab – Eb – Bb. Heard in Zombie, Numb.
• Andalusian Cadence — 6m–5–4–3 — Cm – Bb – Ab – G. Heard in Hit the Road Jack, Stray Cat Strut.
• Dorian Vamp — 6m–2 — Cm – F. Heard in Oye Como Va, Evil Ways.

The same chords as 7ths

Stack one more third on each and you get the seventh chords of C minor: Cm7, Dm7♭5, Ebmaj7, Fm7, Gm7, Abmaj7, Bb7. Same roots, same function, a jazz and soul colour. The v as a dominant seventh (Gm7) is the one that pulls hardest back to Cm.

C minor and Eb major share every chord

Eb major uses the same seven notes as C minor, so it has the same seven chords — the relative major. What changes is which chord is home: Cm in C minor, Eb in Eb major. A song can drift between the two without changing a single chord shape.

• The chords of Eb major, with their own numerals
• The C minor scale on the neck

How to practice the chords of C minor

1. Play Cm – Fm – Gm – Cm slowly, one strum per chord, until the changes are clean.
2. Open the chord builder in this key and turn on Smooth Voice Leading — it re-fingers each change so your hand barely moves.
3. Then play the scale over the chords. Every note of C minor fits every chord above, which is why the scale and the key are the same thing seen from two sides.