C♯ melodic minor scale

The notes

C♯ minor has four sharps, the key signature of E major, its relative major.

Key signature

C♯ minor has four sharps (F♯, C♯, G♯ and D♯) in its key signature, the same as E major, its relative major. The melodic minor adds two accidentals going up, A♯ and B♯, and takes them back coming down.

What makes it melodic minor

The melodic minor raises the sixth and seventh notes going up, A to A♯ and B to B♯, so it climbs smoothly to the tonic, without the harmonic minor’s gap. Going up, it differs from D♭ major only in its third note, E.

Coming down, it is the natural minor: B and A again, written here with courtesy accidentals. (Jazz players use the ascending form both ways, and call it the jazz minor.)

In this key the right hand changes fingers between the ways up and down. Going up, the raised sixth, A♯, is a black key where the natural minor’s thumb would go, so the right hand plays 2 3 1 2 3 4 1 as in D♭ major, the notes it shares; coming down it plays the natural minor’s fingering. This is a common fingering; some books keep one fingering both ways, with the thumb passing to the white keys only.

Fingering

Right hand: 2 3 1 2 3 4 1 3 going up. Going up, the thumb passes under the third finger from D♯ to E and the thumb passes under the fourth finger from A♯ to B♯. The fourth finger plays A♯: once per octave, a good landmark for where the hand is. Over two octaves, the C♯ in the middle takes the second finger instead of the third finger, and the pattern starts again.

Left hand: 3 2 1 4 3 2 1 3 going up. Going up, the fourth finger crosses over the thumb from E to F♯ and the third finger crosses over the thumb from B♯ to C♯. The fourth finger plays F♯: once per octave, a good landmark for where the hand is.

The right hand starts on its third finger, with the fourth on D♯ and the thumbs on E and A. The left hand uses the flat keys’ pattern, 3 2 1 4 3 2 1 3, with the fourth finger crossing onto F♯.

Chords in C♯ minor

The triads built on each note of the scale going up. Most music in a minor key mixes chords from all three forms; the ones below are the melodic minor’s.

• i C♯ minor
• ii D♯ minor
• III+ E augmented
• IV F♯ major
• V G♯ major
• vi° A♯ diminished
• vii° B♯ diminished

Music in C♯ minor

• Beethoven’s “Moonlight” Sonata, Op. 27 No. 2
• Chopin’s Fantaisie-Impromptu, Op. 66
• Rachmaninoff’s Prelude in C♯ minor, Op. 3 No. 2

How to practise it

• Hands separately first, slowly, saying the finger numbers. Fingering learned slowly stays; fingering found at speed changes every time.
• Practise the thumb crossings alone: play just the notes either side of each crossing, back and forth, until the thumb is in place before it’s needed.
• Then hands together, one octave, then two. The hands cross their thumbs at different places, which is what makes scales hands together hard at first.
• Use “Play along” above: it waits for each note, so you can check every note and finger at your own pace. Then Listen at ♩ = 72 and play with it.

Quick answers

What are the notes of the C sharp melodic minor scale?

C♯ D♯ E F♯ G♯ A♯ B♯ C♯ going up, C♯ B A G♯ F♯ E D♯ C♯ coming down.

What is the fingering for the C sharp melodic minor scale?

Going up one octave from C♯: right hand 2 3 1 2 3 4 1 3, left hand 3 2 1 4 3 2 1 3. Coming down: right hand 3 2 1 3 2 1 4 3, left hand 3 1 2 3 4 1 2 3. 1 is the thumb.

What key signature does C♯ minor have?

Four sharps (F♯, C♯, G♯ and D♯), the same as its relative major, E major.