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 4 sharps (F♯, C♯, G♯, D♯). C♯, D♯, F♯, G♯ are black keys; the other 3 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 4 sharps (F♯, C♯, G♯, D♯). 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: C♯m – F♯m – G♯m – C♯m. These chords use only the natural-minor notes above.
• i – V – i: C♯m – G♯ – C♯m. 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.