GuitarChords.net

C minor guitar chord

C minor is C, E flat, and G. E flat is the note that makes it minor instead of C major. Copy the first picture.

x means muted. 0 means open.

C minor

Short code x31013, thickest string first.

  1. Low E string: muted, do not play.
  2. A string: fret 3, ring finger, note C, 1st.
  3. D string: fret 1, middle finger, note E flat, 3rd.
  4. G string: open, note G, 5th.
  5. B string: fret 1, index finger, note C, 1st.
  6. High E string: fret 3, pinky finger, note G, 5th.

C minor uses the notes C, E flat and G.

More C guitar chords.

Also C major, C dominant 7, C major 7, C minor 7, C suspended 2, C suspended 4, C power chord, C diminished, C augmented.

C minor, another shape

Short code 335543, thickest string first.

Barre fret 3 with the index finger on the low E, A and high E strings.

  1. Low E string: fret 3, index finger, note G, 5th.
  2. A string: fret 3, index finger, note C, 1st.
  3. D string: fret 5, ring finger, note G, 5th.
  4. G string: fret 5, pinky finger, note C, 1st.
  5. B string: fret 4, middle finger, note E flat, 3rd.
  6. High E string: fret 3, index finger, note G, 5th.

C minor uses the notes G, C and E flat.

Why does the first C minor skip a barre?

Both pictures are C, E flat, and G. That is C minor. The first picture mutes the thick string and has no barre. The second picture bars fret 3. Same three notes. The barre shape usually sounds thicker.

If the C minor in a song sounds thicker than the first picture, try the barre picture lower on this page. It is still C minor.

E flat is the note that makes this chord minor instead of major. On the first picture that E flat is on the D string, fret 1, middle finger. Play C major after this. On C major that note is E. Listen for E flat turning into E.

Progressions that start on C minor

Play each line in order.

C minor, F minor, G major, C minor

C minor (Cm) and F minor (Fm) stay in the sad room. Then G major (G) lights up and yanks you home so hard it can raise the hair on your arms. Sad folk, Spanish-flavored guitar, and a lot of film music from the 60s on use that bright last lean. It feels like crying with your back straight.

C minor, F minor, B flat major, C minor

Stays sad the whole way. B flat major (Bb) is a window, not a rescue. Folk and rock ballads that do not want a happy ending. A porch at dusk, not a dance floor.

C minor, G major, C minor, G major

G major asks. Cm answers. Over and over, small and tight. Spy-movie tension, a tango you could almost dance, anything that needs a pulse more than a plot. Drama without a speech.

C minor, F minor, C minor, G major

Almost closes, then G major leaves the door cracked. Folk verses that are about to turn. The feeling is unfinished on purpose, like a sentence you have not ended yet.

C minor, G minor, C minor, G minor

No bright major at all. Quiet, grey, old modal folk and some indie that wants the weather low. Nobody is coming to save the song. That is the point.

Songs with C minor

Listen for this chord, then use the grip on this page.

Creep

C minor sits in this Radiohead song. The recording is in G major. It also uses G major, B major, and C major. The verse is G major, B major, C major, C minor.

C minor is the last chord of the verse, after C major (C).

Creep is a G major song. In the verse you play C major, then C minor. C major is warmer. C minor is sadder. It is the chord that turns the loop down.

While they were working the song up, Ed O’Brien stopped and said the chords were the same as The Air That I Breathe, a Hollies hit from 1974. Jonny Greenwood told Fender Frontline in 1993 that Thom copied that bit. They thought it was funny.

After Creep was a hit, the publishers of The Air That I Breathe came. Albert Hammond and Mike Hazlewood, who wrote that song in 1972, got a writing credit on Creep. Hammond later said Radiohead were honest, so he and Hazlewood took only a small piece.

C minor is the last chord in the verse, after C major. Then you go back to G major.