The notes of C minor 7
C minor 7 has four notes, C, E♭, G and B♭: E♭ is a minor 3rd above C, G is a perfect 5th above C and B♭ is a minor 7th above C. That gives the formula 1 ♭3 5 ♭7, a minor chord with a minor seventh on top.
How it sounds and where it’s used
A minor 7th chord sounds mellow and smooth, less sad than a plain minor chord. It’s the ii7 of the ii–V–I progression at the heart of jazz, and a staple of soul, funk and R&B, often as the home chord of a groove. You’ll meet C minor 7 most as i7 in C minor, iv7 in G minor and v7 in F minor.
- It is C minor with B♭, a whole step below the root, added on top.
- Its top three notes, E♭, G and B♭, make E♭ major, its relative major.
- In a ii–V–I it is ii7 in B♭ major, followed by F7.
Fingering
With four notes, the outer fingers take the outside notes and the two notes a second apart (the 7th and the root, side by side) go to neighbouring fingers. In 1st inversion and 3rd inversion the right thumb lands on a black key: move the whole hand a little further in towards the fallboard, so the fingers on white keys stay on them.
| Position | Notes | Right hand | Left hand |
|---|---|---|---|
| Root position | C E♭ G B♭ | 1-2-3-5 | 5-3-2-1 |
| 1st inversion | E♭ G B♭ C | 1-2-4-5 | 5-3-2-1 |
| 2nd inversion | G B♭ C E♭ | 1-2-3-5 | 5-3-2-1 |
| 3rd inversion | B♭ C E♭ G | 1-2-3-5 | 5-4-2-1 |
Fingers count from the thumb (1) to the little finger (5). Shown low to high, so the left hand starts with 5.
Inversions
The same four notes can be stacked with any of them lowest. 1st inversion puts the third at the bottom: E♭, G, B♭ and C, written Cm7/E♭. 2nd inversion puts the fifth at the bottom: G, B♭, C and E♭, written Cm7/G. 3rd inversion puts the seventh at the bottom: B♭, C, E♭ and G, written Cm7/B♭. Whatever is on top, the chord is still C minor 7: the lowest note only changes its colour. Pianists choose the position that is nearest to the chord before, so the hand moves by a step instead of jumping.
Keys with C minor 7
Cm7 is built from the notes of these keys, where it is the chord on the degree shown:
Finding it fast
Play C minor, then add the note a whole step below C, an octave up: B♭. In root position its keys are white, black, white, black. F minor 7 has the same shape on the keys, so learn them together.
To read it on the page as quickly, practise the shapes with the chord reading quiz, and see how the notes are counted in intervals.