Minor chord · C root
Cm chord
- C1
- Eb♭3
- G5
The C minor chord is built from the notes C, Eb, G. It turns up 9 times in the 104 songs on this site, including Creep and My Funny Valentine.
By Chiye · Updated
What is the Cm chord?
The Cm chord (C minor) is a minor chord built from three notes: C, Eb, G — the 1–♭3–5 of the C scale, 3 semitones and 7 semitones above the root. On guitar it is most often played as a movable shape from fret 3 (x-3-5-5-4-3); shift all fretted notes together to transpose it along the neck. It is rated intermediate. The darker, moodier counterpart of the major chord. Across the 104 song sheets in this site's library, Cm appears 9 times in 2 songs, most often in the keys of G and Cm, and the chord it most often moves to is Cm. Below you will find step-by-step fingering, 4 positions up the neck, audio of every shape, and the real progressions this chord lives inside.
How do you play the Cm chord on guitar?
Fret 3 barre — a movable shape, so this same fingering works for every root note.
- Lay your index finger flat across the A to high E strings at fret 3, rolled slightly onto its bony edge.
- Press the D string at fret 5 with your ring finger.
- Press the G string at fret 5 with your pinky finger.
- Press the B string at fret 4 with your middle finger.
- Start your strum on the A string and do not play the low E string at all.
Leave out the lowest fretted note (A string) and practise the remaining strings. The bass changes, and the upper strings may still need a smaller barre; check that the third and other colour tones stay clear. x-x-5-5-4-3
How do you make Cm sound clean?
Cm at the 3rd fret feels like the strings are stiffer than they are — the real problem is a collapsed first knuckle.
Loop Cm, Ab, Eb and Bb, four chords in C minor. Practise the change between the A-rooted Cm and the E-rooted Ab before joining the full loop.
In real songs
What songs use the Cm chord?
- chord changes
- 9
- songs
- 2
- common keys
- G · Cm
Across the 104 chord sheets on this site, Cm appears 9 times in 2 songs — most often in the keys of G and Cm.
Chord flow
What chord comes after Cm?
The counts come from our own song library — 1879 chord changes in total — which makes them a snapshot of real songs instead of a rule of thumb.
Three-chord moves
Three-chord moves are where a chord really shows its character. These are the ones that actually happen in this library, counted from the sheets:
What other ways can you play Cm up the neck?
3 more positions below. Learn one of these well and the rest become optional. The value of a second position is practical: it keeps your fretting hand near where the song is already heading.
Position 2 · Fret 4
Every note here is fretted, which means the shape transposes anywhere on the neck without changing your fingers.
At fret 4 the neck is still wide enough to keep your thumb behind it, which gives the fingers more reach than a thumb-over grip.
Position 3 · Fret 8 barre
Every note here is fretted, which means the shape transposes anywhere on the neck without changing your fingers.
The barre is the only hard part of this shape. Keep the bar finger straight and use the weight of your arm rather than the grip of your thumb.
Position 4 · Fret 10
Every note here is fretted, which means the shape transposes anywhere on the neck without changing your fingers.
Up at fret 10 the frets are close together, so use a lighter touch than you would in the open position — squeezing here pulls the notes sharp.
The theory behind Cm
Cm is spelled C – Eb – G — the 1 – ♭3 – 5 of the C scale, which is the root plus 3 semitones, 7 semitones. The darker, moodier counterpart of the major chord.
The flattened third is what makes it minor, so if Cm sounds wrong the third is almost always the note being muted — check the string carrying it before you change anything else.
What key is the Cm chord in?
Cm is the i chord in C minor, the ii chord in Bb major and the vi chord in Eb major — the three keys where Cm appears naturally.
the home chord of the minor key
the gentle predominant — often before the V
the relative minor — the major key’s shadow
Cm on other instruments
0 3 3 3
The same chord on four strings in standard tuning. Because the uke is tuned higher, this shape sits at a different place on the neck than its guitar equivalent — useful when arranging for both instruments.
C – Eb – G — the highlighted black keys are the sharps or flats; play each note once, then move them into one hand position.
Take it to the practice room
