C♯ minor chord on piano

The notes and their roles

C♯ minor contains C♯, E and G♯. From the root, the semitone offsets are 0, 3, 7. The degree formula 1, ♭3, 5 describes each member relative to the root, not its order in a particular voicing.

Read this shape accurately

C-sharp minor keeps E natural. In C-sharp major the third would be E-sharp, which sounds on the F key; the written E makes the one-semitone quality change clear.

Change only the third

Hold C♯ and G♯ steady. Raise E by one semitone to E♯ and the quality changes to major. The root and perfect fifth do not change. This isolates the interval that distinguishes the two triads.

Choose a bass note

The root-position octave example is C♯4 · E4 · G♯4. Inversions put a different member in the bass while retaining C♯ as the root. The table gives pitch-class order; move the leading notes up an octave as needed to keep each example ascending.

A short listening check

Play C♯ minor together, then as separate notes. Name the minor third before looking at the display. Repeat in first inversion and check that E is the bass while C♯ remains the root.

1. Choose the displayed root and quality in the chord explorer.
2. Compare root position with one inversion at the same tempo.
3. Save both examples in a named practice collection, or export a reference with note names.