C minor scale on piano

C minor runs C – D – E♭ – F – G – A♭ – B♭ – C. Natural minor follows whole–half–whole–whole–half–whole–whole steps. The key signature is 3 flats (B♭, E♭, A♭). E♭, A♭, B♭ are black keys; the other 4 scale notes are played on white keys. The last C is the first note again, one octave higher.

C minor notes and fingering

Fingers are numbered 1 (thumb) to 5 (little finger). These are the one-octave ascending fingerings for the natural-minor form, one hand at a time:

Fingering source: LearnMusicTheory.net, “Major and Natural Minor Scales for Piano,” §2.7.

Play slowly until every note has the same length. At a 1 in the middle of the right-hand row, pass the thumb underneath. At a 3 or 4 after left-hand 1, cross that finger over. Descend by reversing the same finger numbers. The altered notes of harmonic and melodic minor may call for a different fingering; this table is for natural minor.

Key signature and relative key

C minor has 3 flats (B♭, E♭, A♭). Its relative major is E♭ major. The relative major starts on E♭, three half steps above C. They share a key signature and the same seven notes.

Natural, harmonic and melodic minor

In classical practice, melodic minor usually comes down with the natural-minor notes: C · B♭ · A♭ · G · F · E♭ · D · C. The keyboard's Play up and down button follows that convention when you select melodic minor.

The seven chords in C minor

Stack every other scale note to make three-note chords. The Roman numeral tells you which degree supplies the root; upper-case numerals are major, lower-case are minor, and ° means diminished.

The v chord here comes from natural minor. Raising degree 7 for harmonic minor changes it to a major V, G.

Progressions to try

• i – iv – v – i: Cm – Fm – Gm – Cm. These chords use only the natural-minor notes above.
• i – V – i: Cm – G – Cm. The V chord uses the raised 7th from harmonic minor, giving a stronger pull back to i.

Play the scale up and down, then try each progression without leaving the key. Start one hand at a time, and use the highlighted keyboard above to check any note. The scale finder and piano chord finder let you compare other keys.