C minor has 3 flats (B♭ E♭ A♭). Its seven chords are Cm, D°, E♭, Fm, Gm, A♭, B♭. It's the relative minor of E♭ major: the same notes and chords, with Cm as home.
On the wheel, the minor key's i, iv and v sit together on the inner ring with ♭III, ♭VI and ♭VII right above them. Tap any key on the wheel to go to its page.
Open C minor in the interactive wheel| Number | Chord | 7th chord |
|---|---|---|
| i | Cm | Cm7 |
| ii° | D° | Dm7♭5 |
| ♭III | E♭ | E♭maj7 |
| iv | Fm | Fm7 |
| v | Gm | Gm7 |
| ♭VI | A♭ | A♭maj7 |
| ♭VII | B♭ | B♭7 |
The major V pulls home harder than the minor v (House of the Rising Sun, Hotel California). The major IV is the Dorian sound (Oye Como Va, Get Lucky). Ending on a major I is the old "Picardy" trick.
The same slot on the wheel with a different flavour. Sus chords swap the 3rd for the 2nd or 4th and like to resolve back to the plain chord (Csus4 → Cm). add9 adds the 2nd on top of the full chord. These are the common ones whose notes all stay in the key (here: Csus2, Csus4, E♭add9); the small label is the slot they sit in.
C natural minor: C D E♭ F G A♭ B♭. The key's seven chords are built from these notes; the borrowed and secondary chords above bring in notes from outside it.
The seven chords in C minor are Cm, D°, Eb, Fm, Gm, Ab, Bb. As 7th chords: Cm7, Dm7b5, Ebmaj7, Fm7, Gm7, Abmaj7, Bb7.
C minor has 3 flats (Bb Eb Ab).
Eb major. It uses exactly the same notes and chords; only the home chord changes.
i bVI bIII bVII: Cm Ab Eb Bb; i iv v: Cm Fm Gm; i bVII bVI V: Cm Bb Ab G.