Cm piano chord, C minor notes and fingering.

The Cm piano chord is C minor: the notes C, Eb and G played together. It is a root (C), a minor third (Eb, three semitones above the root) and a perfect fifth (G, seven semitones above). Chord charts write it as Cm or Cmin.

How to play Cm on piano

1. Find C on the keyboard. C is the white key just left of the pair of black keys.
2. With your right hand, put finger 1 on C, finger 3 on Eb and finger 5 on G. Finger 1 is the thumb.
3. Press all three keys together. In root position they run from C4 to G4, a reach of 7 semitones. Play chord sounds them together and Arpeggio sounds them one by one, from the bottom up.
4. Click Left hand to see the left hand. It plays C3 to G3, one octave lower: C with finger 5, Eb with finger 3, G with finger 1.
5. The cards under the keyboard hold the three positions, with C, Eb and G at the bottom in turn. Play and Arpeggio on a card play that position.
6. Open Note names. As written the keys read C, Eb and G. Sharps shows C, D# and G, and Flats shows C, Eb and G. This chord is written with flats, so As written and Flats match.

How Cm is built

Counted from the root, the formula is 0, 3, 7. Stacked on each other the gaps are 3 + 4: a minor third (C to Eb) with a major third (Eb to G) on top. A minor triad is a major triad with the third moved down one semitone. C major and C minor share C and G, and only the middle note differs: E against Eb.

Worked example: the pitch of C4. On a piano tuned to A4 = 440 Hz, a note 9 semitones below A4 has the frequency 440 × 2^(-9/12), which is about 261.63 Hz. Eb4 is 6 semitones below A4, so 440 × 2^(-6/12) gives about 311.13 Hz.

What the keys look like under your hand

The black key nearest C is C# on its right. On its left there is none, because B and C are only a semitone apart. One of the three notes is a black key (Eb) and two are white keys (C and G). Finger 3 presses Eb, a black key between D and E. The middle fingers are the longest, so they reach black keys most easily.

Cm inversions and fingering

Cm has three positions. In root position C is at the bottom. In the first inversion, Eb is at the bottom and the chord is written Cm/Eb. In the second inversion, G is at the bottom and the chord is written Cm/G. The tightest reach, 7 semitones from the lowest key to the highest, is the root position. The widest, at 9, is the first inversion.

The keys that hold Cm

Cm fits six of the major and natural minor keys that have a standard key signature, which means every note of it comes from that key's scale. The simplest is Bb major, with 2 flats, where it is chord ii.

Progressions that use Cm, with the chord numbers and the chords in that key:

• Bb major: ii-V-I, which is Cm, F, Bb, the ii-V-I, the standard jazz resolution.
• G minor: i-iv-v-i, which is Gm, Cm, Dm, Gm, the minor-key cadence.
• Eb major: I-V-vi-IV, which is Eb, Bb, Cm, Ab, the four-chord loop heard in a great deal of pop.

Here is a worked example in Bb major. The chord before Cm in the first progression above is Bb (Bb, D and F). From Bb in root position, the closest way to reach Cm is its root position (C, Eb and G, lowest note first): no note stays in place, and the notes move 5 semitones in total, counting each note against the note in the same place from the bottom.

What Cm sounds like

Minor chords sound darker and more serious than major ones, and they carry the mood of many songs. They are not only for sad music, though: in a major key the ii, iii and vi chords are all minor, so a bright song uses them too.

Cm is the ii chord in Bb major, the iv chord in G minor and the vi chord in Eb major.

A common mistake with Cm

A common mistake is pressing E instead of Eb, one semitone higher than the third of Cm. That turns the chord into C major (C, E and G). If your Cm sounds too bright, check the middle finger first.

Chords to learn next

Chords close to Cm: C major (same root, with a major third; shares C and G); Cm7 (adds a minor seventh; contains all its notes); Cdim (lowers the fifth; shares C and Eb); Eb major (its relative major; shares Eb and G).

Once Cm feels easy, play it and then C major to hear what one note changes. For chords beyond these six types, and for guitar and ukulele shapes, use the chord finder. To play along with your computer keys, open the virtual piano. The piano chords page lists all 72 chords.