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Piano chord

C Minor 7th Chord

Cm7 is a minor 7th chord built on C. It contains the notes C – E♭ – G – B♭.

Cm7

Also written: Cmin7, C-7

  • C
  • E♭
  • G
  • B♭

Notes in Cm7

Count up from C using the intervals below. The formula shows each note relative to the C major scale.

NotesIntervalsFormulaSemitones
CRoot10
E♭Minor 3rd♭33
GPerfect 5th57
B♭Minor 7th♭710

How to play Cm7 on piano

  • Right hand: fingers 1–2–3–5 (thumb on C).
  • Left hand: fingers 5–3–2–1, or play just the root in the left hand and the other notes in the right.
  • Inversions keep your hand closer to the previous chord — see below.

Cm7 inversions

An inversion puts a different note of Cm7 at the bottom. The notes stay the same, the colour and voice leading change.

  • Root position

    Cm7

    C – E♭ – G – B♭

  • 1st inversion

    Cm7/E♭

    E♭ – G – B♭ – C

  • 2nd inversion

    Cm7/G

    G – B♭ – C – E♭

  • 3rd inversion

    Cm7/B♭

    B♭ – C – E♭ – G

About minor 7th chords

The minor 7th is the workhorse of jazz and R&B — smoother than a plain minor chord, with a relaxed, after-midnight feel.

Sound: Smooth & jazzy

Songs that use it

  • What's Going On · Marvin Gaye
    R&B
  • Fly Me to the Moon · Frank Sinatra
    Jazz
  • Isn't She Lovely · Stevie Wonder
    R&B

Keys that contain Cm7

Cm7 is built only from notes of these keys. The Roman numeral shows its role in each key.

Hear Cm7 with different sounds and compare it with other chords in the interactive builder.

Open in the chord builder

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