"It's a law, a law of the universe. Like gravity or stupidity or how a minor chord always sounds sad"- Catherynne M Valente With all due respect, I disagree with the latter part. Minor chords need not necessarily sound sad. Have you heard how C minor on guitar sounds? It doesn't sound miserable. Instead, it has mixed vibes. Rolling in the deep by Adele is a fantastic example based on C Minor. It has a powerful vibe being a minor chord. The C minor chord has a longing tone with softness. It makes your heart worry a bit and unwind the sorrows with calmness. Are you curious to learn how to play C Minor on Guitar? The C minor chord, which forms the root of the C minor scale, is made up of notes C-Eâ™-G. It is a great starting point with notes that are easy to pick out and play on guitar, so it's not surprising that this triad makes its way into thousands upon thousands of songs across many different genres.
C Minor Guitar Scale C minor is the natural minor scale that has the base of C. The C minor scale contains the notes such as C, D, Eâ™, F, G, Aâ™, and Bâ™. Moreover, the family chord of C minor is C minor, Aâ™, and Bâ™. You must be wondering what exactly Family Chords means. Let's dive more to know about it.
Family Chords As we all are related to each other in our family, so are the chords. These are the keys that create magical sounds when played together, like they are made for each other. Every family contains different keys. Once you learn how to play C minor on Guitar, you will understand how family chords can create soothing sounds.
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Technique to Play C Minor Chord on Guitar Before we move forward with the techniques, you must know the string names and numbering to understand chord diagrams:
 Learning chord charts is necessary to understand how a chord is being formed. This guides you in visualizing the chords and makes them easier to play. There are many ways to play C minor on Guitar. But the standard method is to play with a Barre Chord.
What is Barre Chord? When multiple strings of a single fret are played simultaneously with the same finger, it forms a "Barre Chord."Â
How to Play the Barre Chord? Let's take an example. When you play an open C chord, you allot a single finger to a single string. Whereas when you play an F barre chord, you need to use your first finger to play multiple strings of a single fret.
 This sounds challenging. Yes, it is. Everything seems complicated until you find a way and practice as much as you can. You will get used to it once you start practicing religiously.
How to play C Minor on Guitar?
Standard C Minor Guitar Chord You have two ways to play Standard C Minor using barre chords.
METHOD 1
Place your 1st finger (index finger) on the third fret of all five strings, followed by the first (High E string) string.
Now, go to the 4th fret and place your 2nd finger (middle finger) on the 2nd string (B string).
Moving forward to the 5th fret, place your 3rd finger (ring finger) on the 4th string (G string) and 4th finger (pinky finger) on the 3rd string (D string).
METHOD 2
Place your 1st finger (index finger) on the 8th fret of the 1st string (High E string), 2nd string (B string), and 6th string (Low E string).
Now, go to the 10th fret of the fretboard and place the 3rd finger (ring finger) on the 5th string (A string) and the 4th finger (pinky finger) on the 4th string (D string).
Playing C Minor on guitar and mastering minor chord shape with these methods is a little tricky if you are a beginner as you have not developed control and dexterity. Well, no worries! I have a 3-way solution for you to play C Minor on guitar.
C Minor Guitar Chord Easy Version This is one of the basic chords being taught in guitar classes so that it gets easier for a beginner to move forward with a flow.
METHOD 1
Place your 1st finger (index finger) on the first string (High E string) of the 3rd fret.
Moving forward, place your 2nd finger (middle finger) on the 2nd string (B string) of the 4th fret.
Moving on to the 5th fret, put your 3rd finger (ring finger) on the 3rd string (G string).
NOTE: You are supposed to play only the first 3 strings while playing C Minor chord with this method, and those are E (High E string), B, and G.
METHOD 2 The minor chord shape in this method is a bit similar to the first method.
Put your 1st finger (index finger) on the first string (High E string) of the 3rd fret as you did in the first method.
As you saw in the 2nd step of the first method, place your 2nd finger (middle finger) on the 2nd string (B string) of the 4th fret.
Now, in the final step, place your 3rd finger (ring finger) on the 4th string (G string) and 4th finger (pinky finger) onto the 3rd string (D string).
NOTE: You need to play only the first 4 strings of the particular frets while playing C Minor chord with this method, and those are E (High E string), B, G, and D. This is a movable shape, so you can use it to play C# minor and D minor, as shown below.
METHOD 3 This method of playing the Cm chord on guitar is very bass-heavy. Hence, it might not be suitable for every track you play.
Place your 2nd finger (middle finger) on the 5th string (A string) of the 3rd fret.
Now, place your 1st finger (index finger) on the 6th string (Low E string) of the same fret.
NOTE: While playing the Cm chord with the 3rd method, you need to play only 4 strings, and those are E (Low E string), A, D, and G. The interesting fact is that the C Minor guitar chord and B Minor guitar chord have similar minor chord shapes, as you can see in the picture below. So, once you learn how to play the C Minor chord on guitar, it will be easier for you to understand the B minor guitar chord as well.
Trying your hands on few more minor chords like A minor, D minor, or G minor will be an add on to explore minor chord expressions.
C Minor Chord Progression Guitar Chord progression means playing two or more chords in a particular sequence that creates a melody that soothes the mind and pleases the ear! You can create many melodious tunes and experience different expressions through the medium of chord progression.
Let's see some of the Cm chord progressions:
C minor - Aâ™ - F minor - G minor 7
C minor - fm - G minor 7 - F minor
Gm 7 - fm - C minor
C Minor chord has a lot of impact on Blues. It goes like C - eâ™ - F - Gâ™ - G - bâ™. Do watch this video to learn more about how to play minor blues on guitar. Are you familiar with Pop Music? If so, then you must know that the guitar is the most often used instrument in pop music. Pop music has been popular since its origin. The 1950's Rock and roll genre is incomplete without its special appearance with guitar. Though many changes and modernization appeared over the decades, the Guitar has made its comeback! World-famous artists like Ed Sheeran and Justin Biber have given justice to the magical tunes that the strings create. By the year 2017, Ed Sheeran's hit song "Photograph" reached number 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US, and currently, it has 1.2 Billion views from all over the world. The use of the guitar is minimal in this song, but the melody it has created is ultimate! So this leads you to the best and often used Modern-Pop Chord Progression in C Minor, and that is Cm - aâ™ - eâ™ - Bâ™. Isn't it exciting and fun?
Songs with C Minor Chord
The Grammy award-winning song "Toxic" by Britney Spears is based on the C Minor chord. It became the fourth top-ten single by Britney in the US.
The famous American singer and guitarist John Mayer beautifully used C minor in his single "Neon."
"Love in C Minor" was the very first album by Marc Cerrone, released in 1976. The name already has C Minor in it, and yes, the song was based on the C Minor chord.
FAQs
How do I improve chord transitions on Guitar? To improve chord transition, you first need to memorize chord shape. Hence, drawing a proper chord diagram on paper is very important. Practicing it is crucial. This will help you to understand the structure and shape of the chord. So you can catch the chord easily and grasp the transitions while holding the guitar.
How do I know whether I am using the correct technique or not? While practicing chords, make sure you are putting proper pressure on the tips of your fingers. This is very necessary, especially when you're playing barre chords. Every note you play and every string you strum must ring out cleanly, and there should not be any shaking.
How do I improve my guitar chord skills? As you have learned different ways of playing C Minor on Guitar, every chord can be played in several ways. So you must explore other forms and styles. This will help you in improving your chord shapes and, ultimately, your guitar chord skills. Learn a few songs based on the chords you have learned and practiced. This will surely make you explore and enjoy the learnings!
