C Natural Minor Scale

C natural minor scale notes and intervals

C natural minor has 7 notes. Each is named by its distance from the root, which is the same in every key — learn the numbers once and every natural minor scale reads the same.

Step pattern from the root: W – H – W – W – H – W – W (W is a whole step, two frets; H is a half step, one fret).

Scales it shares notes with:

• Eb major — relative major — the same seven notes from the b3
• C major — parallel major — the same root, three notes raised

C natural minor scale positions on guitar — all 7

Three notes on every string gives C natural minor exactly seven positions — one starting on each note of the scale — that together cover frets 1 to 16. Position 4 sits lowest on the neck. Because each shape starts on a different note of the scale, each is also the natural fingering for one of its modes (below). Move any of them twelve frets and you have the same shape an octave up.

Position 1 — frets 8–13

Starts on the 1 (C) on the 6th string. Practice this position →

Position 2 — frets 10–15

Starts on the 2 (D) on the 6th string. Practice this position →

Position 3 — frets 11–16

Starts on the b3 (Eb) on the 6th string. Practice this position →

Position 4 — frets 1–6

Starts on the 4 (F) on the 6th string. Practice this position →

Position 5 — frets 3–8

Starts on the 5 (G) on the 6th string. Practice this position →

Position 6 — frets 4–10

Starts on the b6 (Ab) on the 6th string. Practice this position →

Position 7 — frets 6–11

Starts on the b7 (Bb) on the 6th string. Practice this position →

The seven three-notes-per-string positions on their own page →

Chords in the key of C minor

Stack the scale in thirds and every note becomes a chord. These seven are the chords of C minor; the roman numerals under them are how players name the same chords in any key.

As seventh chords: Cm7   Dm7♭5   Ebmaj7   Fm7   Gm7   Abmaj7   Bb7. All the chords in C minor, with shapes and numerals →

Modes of the C natural minor scale

Start the same seven notes on a different degree, treat that note as home, and you have a mode. Each three-notes-per-string position above starts on one scale degree, so position 1 is the natural fingering for the first mode, position 2 for the second, and so on. The shape alone does not make the mode: with C as home, every one of these positions still sounds like C natural minor. A position becomes its mode when its first note is the one you resolve to, over that note’s chord or a drone on it.

• C Aeolian
  position 1 · starts on the 1
• D Locrian
  position 2 · starts on the 2
• Eb Ionian
  position 3 · starts on the b3
• F Dorian
  position 4 · starts on the 4
• G Phrygian
  position 5 · starts on the 5
• Ab Lydian
  position 6 · starts on the b6
• Bb Mixolydian
  position 7 · starts on the b7

Common chord progressions in C minor

Progressions are written as numbers so they transpose to any key. Here they are spelled out in C minor, with songs that use them.

Soloing over Cm–Ab–Eb–Bb: C minor works across all 4 chords, but not every note is an equally good place to stop on each one. Each chord has its own notes to land on: Cm is C–Eb–G, Ab is Ab–C–Eb, Eb is Eb–G–Bb, Bb is Bb–D–F. Aim for them as each chord arrives and the line follows the changes instead of just staying in key. Solo over Cm Ab Eb Bb in the Chord Builder → The neck lights each chord’s notes inside the scale and follows along when you press Play.

C minor pentatonic and blues

Leave out the 2 (D) and the b6 (Ab) and you have C minor pentatonic — C Eb F G Bb — the first scale most guitarists learn. Add the b5 (Gb) and it is the C blues scale.

• C minor pentatonic, all five boxes
• C blues scale

How to practice the C natural minor scale

1. Start with position 4 at frets 1–6, slowly, until every note lands on the click. The loop keeps the shape and the tempo for you.
2. Add five beats a minute each time it feels easy. When straight runs get dull, play the same position in thirds — the pattern that turns a scale into lines.
3. Hear C natural minor harmonized in 3rds on the Fretboard: press Play and every note sounds with its partner while the neck lights up. Then switch Harmony to 6ths and play it again.