semicord

Cm C minor chord

Notes
C Eb G
Formula
1 b3 5
Semitones
0 3 7 above the root
Other symbols
Cmin, C−

C to Eb is a minor third (3 semitones), Eb to G is a major third (4 semitones). It differs from C major by one note: the third, Eb, is a half step lower than in C major.

Cm on the piano

C4D4E4F4G4A4B4C5D5E5F5G5A5B5C#4Eb4F#4Ab4Bb4C#5Eb5F#5Ab5Bb5CC4EbGC5

Root position from C4: C4, Eb4, G4. Middle C is C4.

Cm on the guitar

Standard tuning (E A D G B E). Strings run low E on the left to high e on the right, frets downwards; × is a muted string, ○ an open string, and each dot shows the note it sounds, with the root in blue-green. Every shape below has C as its lowest note.

×CCGGCCEbEbGG
A-shape barre, root on the A string at fret 3
x 3 5 5 4 3 (low E to high e)
Sounds C3 G3 C4 Eb4 G4
8frCCGGCCEbEbGGCC
E-shape barre, root on the E string at fret 8
8 10 10 8 8 8 (low E to high e)
Sounds C3 G3 C4 Eb4 G4 C5

The E-shape and A-shape grips are movable: an E-shape chord's root is the note under your first finger on the low E string, an A-shape chord's root is the note on the A string. Slide the same grip up or down to play minor chords on other roots.

Cm on the ukulele

Standard ukulele tuning is G C E A, drawn with the G string on the left and frets downwards, as ukulele chord charts show it. The G string is tuned higher than the C string (G4 above middle C, a fifth over C4), so the lowest note you hear is usually on the C or E string, not on the G string, and a shape can sound as an inversion even when its root is on the G string. All four strings are strummed, so every string plays a chord tone; the root is in blue-green.

GEbEbGGCC
Open position
0333 (G C E A)
Sounds G4 Eb4 G4 C5
Lowest note Eb4, so the chord finder reads it as Cm/Eb (first inversion).
CCEbEbGGCC
At fret 3
5333 (G C E A)
Sounds C5 Eb4 G4 C5
Lowest note Eb4, so the chord finder reads it as Cm/Eb (first inversion).

Inversions of Cm

An inversion puts a note other than the root in the bass. The name is what semicord's chord finder calls those notes played bottom to top; a slash name like C/E means a C chord with E in the bass.

PositionNotes, bass firstNamedListen
Root positionC Eb GCm
1st inversionEb G CCm/Eb
2nd inversionG C EbCm/G

Where Cm fits

Cm is ii in Bb major, iii in Ab major, vi in Eb major, i in C minor, iv in G minor, v in F minor.

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