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The Cm7 chord

Think of the Cm7 as a minor that breathes more than it broods. The chord is built from C - D# - G - A#, a textbook minor seventh. It does its strongest work in the jazz standards canon, where it tends to sit between two more colourful chords. The Cm7 does its work quietly. The smooth, walkable minor that opens neo-soul tracks like a sigh. Voicings on both instruments, theory in plain language, progressions in multiple keys and a handful of real song references are all laid out below.

Hear the Cm7 in the chord builder →

Scale degrees Note names

Voicings for Cm7

Common ways to grip the Cm7 on guitar and piano. Guitar diagrams read low E to high E left-to-right; an × means muted, an open circle above the nut means an open string. Filled dots are fretted notes.

Guitar , full chord shapes

CAGED-derived voicings for Cm7 across the neck. Pick the shape closest to where your hand already sits.

Guitar: Em7 shape at fr.8

Notes: C - D# - G - A# (chord tones)

Guitar: Am7 shape at fr.3

Notes: C - D# - G - A# (chord tones)

Guitar: Dm7 shape at fr.10

Notes: C - D# - G - A# (chord tones)

Guitar: top-4 voicing

Notes: C - D# - G - A# (chord tones)

Guitar: high top-4 voicing

Notes: C - D# - G - A# (chord tones)

Guitar , triad shapes

Three-note triad shapes on each string set, shown moving up the neck. Light textures for arpeggios, pop layering and chord-melody work.

Triad: top strings (G-B-e) · fr.3

Notes: top-string triad, fr.3

Triad: top strings (G-B-e) · fr.6

Notes: top-string triad, fr.6

Triad: top strings (G-B-e) · fr.11

Notes: top-string triad, fr.11

Triad: middle strings (D-G-B) · fr.3

Notes: middle-string triad, fr.3

Triad: middle strings (D-G-B) · fr.8

Notes: middle-string triad, fr.8

Triad: middle strings (D-G-B) · fr.11

Notes: middle-string triad, fr.11

Triad: bass strings (A-D-G) · open

Notes: bass-side triad, open

Triad: bass strings (A-D-G) · fr.3

Notes: bass-side triad, fr.3

Triad: bass strings (A-D-G) · fr.8

Notes: bass-side triad, fr.8

Piano voicings

Root position and inversions. The bass note matters: each inversion changes how the chord sits under a melody.

Piano: root position

Notes: C - D# - G - A#. Root C at the bottom. The classic stacked-thirds spelling of a minor seventh.

Piano: first inversion

Notes: D# - G - A# - C. D# at the bottom. Common in chord-melody, walking bass lines and gentler voicings.

Piano: second inversion

Notes: G - A# - C - D#. G at the bottom. A floating, suspended feel often used in hymns and ballads.

Piano: third inversion

Notes: A# - C - D# - G. A# at the bottom. The seventh in the bass , a smooth jazz favourite.

The theory behind Cm7

Cm7 is a minor seventh built on C. Its three or four notes (C - D# - G - A#) sit a specific distance apart: root, minor third, perfect fifth, minor seventh. That makes it a passing chord in the key of a closely related major key, and the same chord works as the passing chord in a closely related major key. The simplest rule of thumb: the Cm7 wants to walk into a dominant seventh a fifth above.

Progressions that use Cm7

Short progressions that put the Cm7 to work. Each one is shown in a different key so you can pick the one that suits your singer.

i→iv→V key of A minor

Cm7 (as passing colour)

This chord appears as a borrowed or passing chord in many minor-key progressions.

→ Build this in the chord builder

Songs that feature Cm7

Real records where this chord does structural work. No lyrics quoted, just the title and artist so you can pull up a copy and hear it in context.

Doo Wop (That Thing) by Lauryn Hill. Cm7 in the smooth verse harmony.
Sunday Morning by Maroon 5. Cm7 within the song's mellow palette.
Rosanna by Toto. Cm7 as a smooth jazz-pop colour.

Related chords

Chords a step away from the Cm7 in the songwriting circle, the natural neighbours when you want a substitution.

TriadC DomC7 Maj7Cmaj7 NeighbourG NeighbourGm NeighbourG7 NeighbourF NeighbourFm

Keys where Cm7 lives

The keys where this chord turns up diatonically. Open any key page for the full set of progressions that lean on it.

C major A minor

Related references

Other ways to put the Cm7 to work across the reference library.

Arpeggiooutline it with arpeggios

More songwriting tools

Got the chord but still wrestling with the lyric? Find the right rhyme in RhymeForge, or break a writer's block with the unexpected word-pair generator in CollisionLab. Need to map a full progression? The chord builder on the home page is where the Cm7 fits into context. All free, no signup.

About the chord builder

The Undercover Zest chord progression builder is a free interactive tool that maps every diatonic and borrowed chord in every key. Click a Roman numeral to hear it, drag chords into a progression, then audition voicings, inversions and tensions until the song clicks.

This page is a static reference for the Cm7. For interactive playback, voice-leading hints and substitution suggestions, open the chord builder above.