Chords in the Key of C Minor

The key of C minor has seven chords, one built on each note of the C natural minor scale: three minor, three major and one diminished — plus the major V most songs borrow. Tap Play on any chord or progression to hear it.

3 flatsRelative major: E♭Loads on play
The 7 chords

Cm · Ddim · E♭ · Fm · Gm · A♭ · B♭

Every natural minor key follows the same pattern: minor, diminished, major, minor, minor, major, major.

iCmC Minor313421
ii°DdimD Diminished51243
IIIE♭E♭ Major612341
ivFmF Minor134111
vGmG Minor3134111
VIA♭A♭ Major4134211
VIIB♭B♭ Major12341
Chord chart

C Minor chord chart

DegreeNumeralChordNotes7th chordFunction
1iCmC – E♭ – GCm7Tonic
2ii°DdimD – F – A♭Dm7b5Supertonic
3IIIE♭E♭ – G – B♭E♭maj7Mediant
4ivFmF – A♭ – CFm7Subdominant
5vGmG – B♭ – DGm7Dominant
6VIA♭A♭ – C – E♭A♭maj7Submediant
7VIIB♭B♭ – D – FB♭7Subtonic

C minor scale: C – D – E♭ – F – G – A♭ – B♭. Key signature: 3 flats (B♭, E♭, A♭).

Progressions

Common chord progressions in C Minor

Minor pop loop

i – VI – III – VII

  1. iCm
  2. VIA♭
  3. IIIE♭
  4. VIIB♭

The four chords of the pop progression, started on the minor chord — i, VI, III, VII in a minor key is I, V, vi, IV in its relative major.

Minor three-chord progression

i – iv – v – i

  1. iCm
  2. ivFm
  3. vGm
  4. iCm

The primary chords of the minor key, i, iv and v. Swap the minor v for the major V below for a stronger pull home.

Andalusian cadence

i – VII – VI – V

  1. iCm
  2. VIIB♭
  3. VIA♭
  4. VG

A stepwise walk down to the major V — the sound of flamenco, and of a long list of rock songs.

Descending fifths

i – iv – VII – III

  1. iCm
  2. ivFm
  3. VIIB♭
  4. IIIE♭

Each root is a 5th below the one before — the circle of fifths moving through the minor key.

Rising VI – VII

i – VI – VII – i

  1. iCm
  2. VIA♭
  3. VIIB♭
  4. iCm

Climbs from the VI through the VII back home to i — a staple of rock choruses and film scores.

Minor ii – V – i

iiø7 – V7 – i7

  1. iiø7Dm7b5
  2. V7G7
  3. i7Cm7

The minor-key jazz cadence. The V7 comes from the harmonic minor scale, which is what makes it resolve so strongly.

Want more? Generate a progression in C Minor by style, or build your own in the Chord Progression Player.

7th chords

7th chords in the key of C Minor

Add the next note of the scale on top of each chord and you get its diatonic 7th chord — the sound of jazz, soul and R&B in C minor.

i7Cm7C Minor 7th313121
iiø7Dm7b5D Minor 7th Flat 51
IIImaj7E♭maj7E♭ Major 7th1234
iv7Fm7F Minor 7th131111
v7Gm7G Minor 7th3131111
VImaj7A♭maj7A♭ Major 7th13
VII7B♭7B♭ Dominant 7th6131211
The major V

Why songs in C minor use G, not Gm

The natural minor scale makes the v chord minor (Gm), and it only weakly leads home. Raise the scale's 7th note to B — the C harmonic minor scale — and the chord becomes G major, or G7. That B sits a half step below C and pulls straight to it, which is why most minor-key songs end on G → Cm or G7 → Cm.

VGG Major2213
V7G7G Dominant 7th321
On guitar

Playing in C Minor on guitar

None of the 7 chords in C minor is an open chord in standard tuning — every one needs a barre or a moveable shape. A capo lets you swap those for open shapes:

  • Capo 3 + A minor shapes

    Finger Am, Bdim, C, Dm, Em, F, G — they sound as Cm, Ddim, E♭, Fm, Gm, A♭, B♭. 5 of the 7 shapes are open chords.

    See the A minor chords

  • Capo 1 + B minor shapes

    Finger Bm, C#dim, D, Em, F#m, G, A — they sound as Cm, Ddim, E♭, Fm, Gm, A♭, B♭. 4 of the 7 shapes are open chords.

    See the B minor chords
Relative and parallel keys
Closest keys on the circle of fifths

They share six of C minor's seven notes. Explore every key on the Circle of Fifths.

Questions

Frequently Asked Questions

Related Tools
Circle of FifthsSee every key, its relative minor and its neighbours on one wheelKey FinderPaste a progression and detect its key with Roman numeral analysisChord Progression GeneratorPick a key and style to generate a diatonic progressionCapo CalculatorFind the capo position to play any key with open shapes