Chord Colors

C sharp minor chord
PianoGuitar

About the C sharp minor chord

C sharp minor is used in C sharp Dorian, where its notes spell the i chord.

Its notes are C♯, E, and G♯. The intervals are a minor third and a perfect fifth.

Also called minor triad and min. D flat minor spells the same notes enharmonically.

Learn more about the C♯ minor chord

Inversions

Position 1 of 3

C sharp minor (root position)

Notes and intervals

1C#C♯Root
2EEMinor 3rd
3G#G♯Perfect 5th

Shapes

Chromatic

CC♯D♭DD♯E♭EFF♯G♭GG♯A♭AA♯B♭B

Circle of Fifths

CGDAEBF♯G♭C♯D♭G♯A♭D♯E♭A♯B♭F

Keys that use C sharp minor

C sharp minor is diatonic to these keys, where its notes spell the chord shown.

iC sharp Dorian scaleiC sharp Phrygian scaleiC sharp Natural Minor scaleiC sharp Harmonic Minor scaleiC sharp Melodic Minor Ascending scaleiC sharp Dorian ♭2 scaleiC sharp Dorian ♯4 scaleiC sharp Phrygian ♭4 scaleiC sharp Lydian Diminished scaleiiB Major scaleiiB Dorian scaleiiB Mixolydian scale

Other C sharp chords

Simpler triads

C sharp five chordC sharp major chordC sharp diminished chordC sharp augmented chord

Suspended

C sharp suspended two chordC sharp suspended four chordC sharp seven suspended four chordC sharp nine suspended four chordC sharp thirteen suspended four chord

Sixths and sevenths

C sharp six chordC sharp minor six chordC sharp minor flat six chordC sharp seven chordC sharp major seven chordC sharp minor seven chordC sharp minor seven flat five chordC sharp diminished seven chordC sharp minor major seven chordC sharp major seven flat five chordC sharp major seven sharp five chordC sharp minor major seven flat five chord

Extensions

C sharp nine chordC sharp add nine chordC sharp major nine chordC sharp minor nine chordC sharp eleven chordC sharp thirteen chordC sharp six nine chordC sharp minor add nine chordC sharp major eleven chordC sharp major thirteen chordC sharp minor eleven chordC sharp minor thirteen chordC sharp minor six nine chordC sharp minor major nine chordC sharp minor major eleven chord

Altered

C sharp seven sharp five chordC sharp seven flat five chordC sharp seven flat nine chordC sharp seven sharp nine chordC sharp nine flat five chordC sharp nine sharp eleven chordC sharp nine sharp five chord

Functional relationships

These chords are where this one most naturally comes from and resolves to inside a key.

Relative major

E major chord Learn more about Relative major

The relative major uses the same notes and key signature, so it works as a brighter home base.

Parallel major

C sharp major chord Learn more about Parallel major

The parallel major keeps the same root note but raises the third, giving the same key a brighter, happier sound.

Dominant

G sharp major chord Learn more about Dominant

The dominant is a fifth above the root, and it builds tension that pulls strongly back to this chord.

Subdominant

F sharp minor chord Learn more about Subdominant

The subdominant is a fourth above the root (a fifth below), and it usually leads on to the dominant or back home.

Tritone substitution

D seven chord Learn more about Tritone substitution

The tritone substitution stands in for this chord's dominant with a dominant seventh a half step above the root, which slides down by a half step to resolve here.

Embed this chord

Paste the snippet into a lesson page, a blog or a forum post. The card links back here.

C♯ minor chord on piano shown as colored note dots
Chord Colors

There's so much more to explore

Explore on the go. Over 150 chord progressions, modal mixture, build your own progressions, and more!

Try web version iOS app
Chord Colors on iPhone showing chords, guitar voicings, progressions, and scales