Chords in the Key of C Minor
Every diatonic triad and seventh chord in C minor, with the progressions built from them. Free. No sign-up.
Key facts
Diatonic triads
Seventh chords
Stack one more scale tone on each triad and you get the seventh chords — same key, more color.
Common progressions in C minor
i–VI–III–VII
Cm – Ab – Eb – Bb
The minor pop loop — same four chords as the major axis, started from the minor side.
i–iv–v
Cm – Fm – Gm
The minor blues shape — all three chords stay minor in the natural scale.
i–VII–VI
Cm – Bb – Ab
The descending rock lament, one whole step at a time.
i–iv–VII–III
Cm – Fm – Bb – Eb
A circle-of-fifths descent — each root falls a fifth to the next.
How the key of C minor works
C Minor carries three flats (Bb, Eb and Ab). The scale runs C–D–Eb–F–G–Ab–Bb, and stacking every other note of that scale builds the seven chords above — every chord tone comes from those same seven notes.
Eb Major is the relative major: identical key signature, identical seven chords. Treat Eb — the III chord here — as home base and you are in Eb major without changing a note.
The parallel major, C Major, keeps the same root but raises the third, sixth, and seventh — its signature shifts to no sharps or flats. Moving a section from minor to parallel major is one of the oldest brightness tricks in songwriting.
Playing C minor on guitar
None of the chords in C minor is a standard open chord: Cm, Eb, Fm, Gm, Ab and Bb all need barre shapes, which is why most guitarists reach for a capo in this key. The diminished Ddim is usually played as a small three-string shape rather than a full chord.
A capo is the shortcut. With one, the i–VI–III–VII progression (Cm – Ab – Eb – Bb) sounds in C minor while you finger open shapes:
Capo 8 · play it as E minor
Em – C – G – D
4 of 4 shapes are open chords.
Capo 1 · play it as B minor
Bm – G – D – A
3 of 4 shapes are open chords.
Capo 3 · play it as A minor
Am – F – C – G
3 of 4 shapes are open chords.
Where C minor sits on the neck
The root, C, is fret 8 on the low E string and fret 3 on the A string, the two places most minor barre shapes and scale positions in C minor are built from.
Two open strings are in the key: D and G. Watch the open low E (fret 1 gives F), the open A (fret 1 gives Bb), the open B (fret 1 gives C) and the open high E (fret 1 gives F).
The open G (the fifth) string makes a drone you can let ring under riffs and melodies in this key.
One note separates C minor from each neighbour on the circle of fifths. Raise Ab to A and you are in G minor; lower D to Db and you are in F minor. Those are the two keys a song in C minor most often modulates to.
Keep practicing
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