Scales
C# Minor Scale
C# · D# · E · F# · G# · A · B
The natural minor scale — the major scale’s darker sibling, and the same seven notes read from a different starting point.
Also called C# Aeolian · C# natural minor
C# Minor Scale
C# · D# · E · F# · G# · A · B
Fingering on the piano
| Hand | Fingering | Notes | Play it on your instrument |
|---|---|---|---|
| Right hand | 3 4 1 2 3 1 2 3 | C# · D# · E · F# · G# · A · B · C# | |
| Left hand | 3 2 1 4 3 2 1 3 | C# · D# · E · F# · G# · A · B · C# |
One octave ascending; 1 is the thumb. A standard fingering, not the only one.
Tap a key or a fret to hear it.
Scale degrees
C# Minor is made of the notes C# · D# · E · F# · G# · A · B. Each is a degree counted from the tonic, and the gaps between them are the step pattern W H W W H W W.
Read on: scale degrees · building any scale · the three minors · the seven modes
Modes
A mode is the same set of notes started from another degree. Each card is one rotation of C# Minor: choose it to re-order the degrees from its tonic and hear it, or open its own page. The seven modes of the major scale are the ones most players learn first.
Chords in this key
Stacking thirds on each degree of C# Minor gives the chords of the key; the roman numeral names the degree each is built on.
Triads
Progressions in this key
The stock progressions of a minor key, each numeral resolved to its chord in C# Minor. A capital V borrows the raised seventh of the harmonic minor; the natural minor’s own dominant is the minor v.
i–♭VI–♭III–♭VIIC#m · A · E · B
i–♭VII–♭VI–♭VIIC#m · B · A · B
i–iv–v–iC#m · F#m · G#m · C#m
i–iv–V–iC#m · F#m · G# · C#mharmonic minor
ii°–V–iD#dim · G# · C#mharmonic minor
i–♭VI–iv–VC#m · A · F#m · G#harmonic minor
Related scales
The scales C# Minor shares its notes with: the one it is a rotation of, the relative and parallel keys, the scales inside it and the ones that contain it.
E MajorE · F# · G# · A · B · C# · D#
Parent scale: the major scale this is a rotation of
E MajorE · F# · G# · A · B · C# · D#
Relative: the same notes from the other tonic
C# MajorC# · D# · E# · F# · G# · A# · B#
Parallel: the same tonic, the other modality
Scales inside it
C# EgyptianC# · D# · F# · G# · B
Every note of this scale is in C# Minor.
C# Vietnamese 1C# · E · F# · G# · A
Every note of this scale is in C# Minor.
C# HirajoshiC# · D# · E · G# · A
Every note of this scale is in C# Minor.
C# Malkos RagaC# · E · F# · A · B
Every note of this scale is in C# Minor.
C# Minor PentatonicC# · E · F# · G# · B
Every note of this scale is in C# Minor.
Scales that contain it
C# Minor BebopC# · D# · E · F# · G# · A · B · B#
Contains every note of C# Minor.
C# ChromaticC# · D · D# · E · E# · F# · G · G# · A · A# · B · B#
Contains every note of C# Minor.
Understanding C# Minor
Names and spellings
C# Minor is also called C# Aeolian, C# natural minor; every one of those names means exactly these notes.
“Minor scale” on its own means this one, the natural minor, which is also the Aeolian mode. The harmonic minor raises its seventh and the melodic minor raises its sixth and seventh on the way up; the three are different scales, and a chart that says only “minor” means this one.
How it is built
On C# the scale is C# · D# · E · F# · G# · A · B, following the step pattern W H W W H W W. Compared with the major scale on the same tonic it flattens the third, sixth and seventh degrees.
It is identical in content to its relative major — the notes of E Major starting from the sixth degree — but starting on a different note changes which one the ear treats as home, and with it the whole character.
How it is used
Its flattened seventh is a whole step below the tonic, not a semitone, so it has no leading tone and no strong pull home. That is why minor-key writing so often borrows a raised seventh from the harmonic minor when it needs a real cadence.
Left unaltered it is the modal minor sound of folk, rock and film — settled rather than yearning.
Learn this properly
Chapter 7: Scales: Major and MinorCommon questions
- What notes are in the C# Minor?
- The C# Minor contains C# · D# · E · F# · G# · A · B. Find every scale that contains these notes with the scale finder.
- What is the natural minor scale formula?
- Whole, half, whole, whole, half, whole, whole — written W H W W H W W.
- What is the relative major of C# minor?
- The E Major, which shares the same seven notes and the same key signature.
- How do I play C# Minor?
- On guitar start with the 1st position, played from the lowest string upward; the instrument panel on this page shows its frets and the positions further up the neck. On the piano the right hand ascends 3 4 1 2 3 1 2 3, with 1 as the thumb. Every position plays when you press it.
- What chords are in the key of C# Minor?
- Stacking thirds on each degree of C# Minor gives C#m (i), D#dim (ii°), E (III), F#m (iv), G#m (v), A (VI), B (VII). These are the diatonic chords of the key, the ones a song in this key uses most; the harmony band on this page lists them with the seventh chords built the same way.