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The C#m7 chord

Built from C# - E - G# - B, the C#m7 is a minor seventh that sounds rounded and walkable. It lives at the centre of jazz standards, neo-soul and yacht rock, and it does its work quietly. What follows below: the voicings worth memorising on guitar and piano, the theory in plain language, progressions in two or three different keys, and a short list of real records that lean on the chord.

Hear the C#m7 in the chord builder →

Voicings for C#m7

Common ways to grip the C#m7 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 C#m7 across the neck. Pick the shape closest to where your hand already sits.

Guitar: Em7 shape at fr.9

Notes: C# - E - G# - B (chord tones)

Guitar: Am7 shape at fr.4

Notes: C# - E - G# - B (chord tones)

Guitar: Dm7 shape at fr.11

Notes: C# - E - G# - B (chord tones)

Guitar: top-4 voicing

Notes: C# - E - G# - B (chord tones)

Guitar: high top-4 voicing

Notes: C# - E - G# - B (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) · open

Notes: top-string triad, open

Triad: top strings (G-B-e) · fr.4

Notes: top-string triad, fr.4

Triad: top strings (G-B-e) · fr.7

Notes: top-string triad, fr.7

Triad: middle strings (D-G-B) · open

Notes: middle-string triad, open

Triad: middle strings (D-G-B) · fr.4

Notes: middle-string triad, fr.4

Triad: middle strings (D-G-B) · fr.9

Notes: middle-string triad, fr.9

Triad: bass strings (A-D-G) · fr.1

Notes: bass-side triad, fr.1

Triad: bass strings (A-D-G) · fr.4

Notes: bass-side triad, fr.4

Triad: bass strings (A-D-G) · fr.9

Notes: bass-side triad, fr.9

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# - E - G# - B. Root C# at the bottom. The classic stacked-thirds spelling of a minor seventh.

Piano: first inversion

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

Piano: second inversion

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

Piano: third inversion

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

The theory behind C#m7

Spell out the C#m7 and you get C# - E - G# - B. The intervals from the root are root, minor third, perfect fifth, minor seventh, which is the recipe for a minor seventh. In a closely related major key the chord plays the role of passing chord; in a closely related major key it shows up as passing chord. Its preferred next move is walk into a dominant seventh a fifth above, which is what makes it useful in jazz standards and neo-soul.

Progressions that use C#m7

Short progressions that put the C#m7 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

C#m7 (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 C#m7

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.

Related chords

Chords a step away from the C#m7 in the songwriting circle, the natural neighbours when you want a substitution.

NeighbourF# NeighbourF#m NeighbourF#7

Keys where C#m7 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 C#m7 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 C#m7 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 C#m7. For interactive playback, voice-leading hints and substitution suggestions, open the chord builder above.