The C# minor chord scale is an obscure, and sad sounding progression of chords, thats’ in the key of C# minor. This post will go over the C sharp minor chord scale, how it differs from other scales, and why musicians need to know this information.
What Chords Are in The C sharp Minor Scale?
To find the chords in the C# minor scale, you first need to know what notes are in it. Then after this you can use a chord scale formula to work out the chords in the scale.
The C# minor scale is a series of 7 notes you can use to create melodies, or build chords from. These notes repeat across octaves, and if you play the same notes, you will stay in key.
The C# minor scale consists of:
C#, D#, E, F#, G#, A, B
Each of the notes above will have a chord assigned to them, and like I mentioned above, you can use a formula to find out what these chords are.
There are 2 common chord scale formulas:
Major: major, minor, minor, major, major, minor, diminished
Minor: minor, diminished, major, minor, minor, major, major
Because you want to find the chords in the key of C# minor, you want to use the minor chord scale formula. To do this, all you do is take the formula and plug it into the C# minor scale listed above.
So for instance, you’d play a: C# minor, D# diminished, E major & so on.
Once you have this information, if you know your chords, you’ll be able to play the C# minor scale. If you don’t know the difference between major, minor and diminished chords, you’ll need to use chord spellings to find them out.
The most common chord spellings are:
- Major – 1, 3, 5
- Minor – 1, b3, 5
- Diminished – 1, b3, b5
- Augmented – 1, 3, #5
These are to be used when building chords from the major scale.
So you would take the C# major scale, and use the 1, b3, 5, minor spelling to get your 1st minor chord.
You’d then take the 1, b3, b5 spelling and build your D# diminished, using the D# major scale to get your 2nd chord.
Then for the 3rd chord, you’d take the E major scale and use the 1, 3, 5 spelling for your next major chord.
To use the spellings, all you have to do is take the root note of your chord, use the major scale of that, then use the chord spelling you want. If you want a major chord, use the major, if you want a minor, use the minor spelling.
For instance when making an E major chord (3rd chord in C# minor):
- E is the root note
- So you use the E major scale
- And the 1, 3, 5 major chord spelling
Using the above chord spellings and chord scale formula, you end up with:
- C# minor
- D# diminished
- E major
- F# minor
- G# minor
- A major
- B major
Chords in The Key of C sharp Minor
Pictured above are all the chords in the key of C# minor. You can use any of these chords in any sequence to create a chord progression, that sounds in key. Some combinations may sound better than others, so it’s worth taking some time to play different chords in different orders.
You can use the diagram above to make basic chord progressions. Then, you can do more advanced things like adding different extensions, bass notes & inversions.
What Notes Are in The C Sharp Minor Chord Scale Chords?
Now you know what the chords are in the C# minor scale, you should know what notes make up each chord. In this section below we’ll list each chord and the notes, for you.
- C# minor – C#, E, G#
- D# diminished – D#, F#, A
- E major – E, G#, B
- F# minor – F#, A, C#
- G# minor – G#, B, D#
- A major – A, C#, E
- B major – B, D#, F#
Common Chord Progressions To Use in C Sharp Minor
You can use the C sharp minor chord scale to build your own progressions from scratch, which is a great way to be creative. However, sometimes you just don’t have the time or you need something to build off because you’ve got the cursed writers block.
This is where you can use common chord progressions, and plug them in using the Roman numeral numbers listed on the chord scale.
- Uppercase = major chord
- Lowercase = minor chord
- 6, 7, 9, 11, 13 = extensions
Here is a list of some common chord progressions for minor chord scales:
- i-VI-III-VII
- i- iv-i-VI-V7-i
- i-iv-v