C-sharp Piano Chords
Here we can explore every chord built on C-sharp, the first black key of each group of two. The root stays the same from chord to chord; what changes is the distance from C-sharp to the notes stacked above it, and that is what gives each chord its own quality and unique sound. Because C-sharp is a black key, the right thumb and the left 5th finger start on a black key in root position, so the hand sits further in toward the fallboard than it does for chords built on white keys. C-sharp and D-flat are the same key on the piano. The chords here are spelled from C-sharp; D-flat piano chords spells the same sounds the other way, and which name a chord takes depends on the key it appears in.
The 9 chords built on C-sharp
Triads built on C-sharp
Four triads can be built on C-sharp. Each is three notes stacked in thirds, and they differ only in their third and fifth:
- C-sharp major (C♯): C-sharp, E-sharp, G-sharp
- C-sharp minor (C♯m): C-sharp, E, G-sharp, with the third lowered to E
- C-sharp diminished (C♯°): C-sharp, E, G, with the fifth lowered as well, to G
- C-sharp augmented (C♯+): C-sharp, E-sharp, G-double-sharp, with the fifth of the major chord raised to G-double-sharp
Try playing them in that order and listening to how a single changed note changes the sound of the whole chord.
Seventh chords built on C-sharp
Adding a seventh on top of a triad gives the five seventh chords built on C-sharp:
- C-sharp dominant 7th (C♯7): the major triad with a minor seventh, C-sharp, E-sharp, G-sharp, B
- C-sharp major 7th (C♯maj7): the major triad with a major seventh, C-sharp, E-sharp, G-sharp, B-sharp
- C-sharp minor 7th (C♯m7): the minor triad with a minor seventh, C-sharp, E, G-sharp, B
- C-sharp half-diminished 7th (C♯ø7): the diminished triad with a minor seventh, C-sharp, E, G, B
- C-sharp diminished 7th (C♯°7): the diminished triad with a diminished seventh, C-sharp, E, G, B-flat
A few of these notes have names that may look unusual: E-sharp is played on F, G-double-sharp is played on A, and B-sharp is played on C. Each chord keeps its notes on every other letter name, which is what makes it read as a stack of thirds on the staff.
Each chord’s own page shows it in every inversion, with fingering, keyboard charts, notation, and audio.
C-sharp chords and keys
All of these chords grow from the same root, C-sharp. The chords that belong together in a key are a different family, built on each note of the scale; for those, see D-flat major piano chords (on the same keys, spelled from D-flat) and C-sharp minor piano chords.