Piano chord
C minor chord
Cm is a minor triad: the root C, a minor 3rd up to E♭ and a perfect 5th up to G.
- Symbol
- Cm
- Notes
- C – E♭ – G
Play it yourself
Tap C, E♭ and G on the keys below, in any order.
- C
- E♭
- G
Minor chords sound darker and more serious than major ones. The only difference is the middle note: the third is one half step lower.
Inversions of Cm
An inversion keeps the same notes but puts a different one at the bottom. Pianists use them to move between chords with less jumping.
- Root position
C – E♭ – G
- 1st inversion · Cm/E♭
E♭ – G – C
- 2nd inversion · Cm/G
G – C – E♭
Keys with Cm
Cm occurs naturally in these keys. The Roman numeral shows which step of the scale it is built on.