Guitar UpscaleMinor Chord on guitar
A minor chord is a root, a minor third and a perfect fifth. It sounds darker and sadder than a major chord.
| Written as | Cm |
|---|---|
| Formula | 1 b3 5 |
| Notes in C | C Eb G |
| Semitones from the root | 0, 3, 7 |
About the Minor Chord
The minor triad flips the stack of the major triad: a minor 3rd (3 frets) first, then a major 3rd (4 frets). A minor is A, C and E.
Moving one note, the 3rd, down a fret turns any major chord into a minor one. Try E to Em on the open strings to hear it.
The open Am, Em and Dm shapes, and the Em and Am barre shapes, cover every minor chord on the neck.
Intervals
- 1: Root, 0 semitones above the root
- b3: Minor 3rd, 3 semitones above the root
- 5: Perfect 5th, 7 semitones above the root
Minor Chord charts in all 12 keys
Each chart shows the strings from the thick low E on the left to the thin high e on the right. Numbers in the dots are fingers: 1 index, 2 middle, 3 ring, 4 little, T thumb. × marks a muted string and ○ an open one. A bar across strings is a barre.
Cm: C Eb G
Gm: G Bb D
Dm: D F A
Am: A C E
Em: E G B
Bm: B D F#
F#m: F# A C#
C#m: C# E G#
G#m: G# B D#
Ebm: Eb Gb Bb
Bbm: Bb Db F
Fm: F Ab C
Scales to play over Cm
Each of these scales, started on C, holds every note of the chord:
- C Natural Minor (Aeolian)
- C Harmonic Minor
- C Phrygian Mode
- C Locrian with a Natural Fifth
- C Harmonic Minor Bebop
- C Harmonic Minor Bebop with a Raised Fourth
- C Melodic Minor
- C Dorian Mode
- C Minor Pentatonic
- C Adonai Malakh
- C Kumoi Scale
- C Hirajoshi Scale
- C Romanian Scale
- C Romanian Minor (Ukrainian Dorian)
- C Hungarian Major
- C Hungarian Minor (Gypsy Minor)
- C Narayan Scale
- C Neapolitan Minor
- C Neapolitan Major
- C Algerian Scale
- C Pelog (Balinese)
- C Pelog 2
- C Javanese (Dorian b2)
- C Moorish Phrygian
- C Blues Scale
- C Blues Scale with a Major Seventh
- C Blues Scale with Both Thirds
- C Chromatic Blues Scale
- C Major Blues Scale
- C Mixo-Blues Scale
- C Bebop Minor (Bebop Dorian)
- C Bebop Half Diminished
- C Diminished (Half Whole)
- C Augmented Scale
- C Nine Tone Scale
- C Lydian Diminished
- C Lydian #2