C♯ Minor / D♭ Minor Chord on Guitar

1,008 guitar chords with several shapes each, finger numbers, difficulty and real sound, in any tuning.

C♯ minor (also written D♭ minor) is a minor chord made of 3 notes: C♯, E, G♯. It sounds darker and more serious than a major chord, and you hear it in sad songs, ballads and most Bollywood minor-key melodies. It is the i chord of C♯ minor and turns up in 5 other keys.

The library above opens on C♯m with 14 shapes up and down the neck, starting with hand-checked ones. Tap a shape to hear it, or play it one string at a time.

Notes in C♯m

Note	Degree	Interval from C♯	Semitones
C♯	1	root	0
E	♭3	minor third	3
G♯	5	perfect fifth	7

Formula: 1 – ♭3 – 5. On guitar the 5th is often left out of the bigger shapes without changing the chord. With the other spelling, D♭m is D♭, F♭, A♭: the same sounds under different names.

How to play C♯m

A-shape barre at fret 4Mediumx46654

E-shape barre at fret 9Medium9(11)(11)999

Fret 4Beginnerxxx654

Fret 9Beginnerxx(11)99x

Open positionEasyx42x20

Fret 4Easyx4665x

Fret 4 (root on the 5th string), step by step

1st finger (index): 5th string, 4th fret (C♯, the root).
2nd finger (middle): 2nd string, 5th fret (E, the minor third).
3rd finger (ring): 4th string, 6th fret (G♯, the fifth).
4th finger (little): 3rd string, 6th fret (C♯, the root).
Strum from the 5th string, and keep the 6th string and 1st string quiet (touch the muted string lightly with the finger next to it).

Tips

The fret 4 shape is the one to learn first. Once it is easy, try the shape at the 9th fret (9(11)(11)999): the same chord, higher and brighter, handy when the chords before and after it sit up the neck.

Keys and progressions with C♯m

C♯m belongs to 6 keys: vi in E major, iii in A major, ii in B major, i in C♯ minor, v in F♯ minor, iv in G♯ minor. In C♯ minor, try i–VI–III–VII: C♯m – A – E – B.