Let’s start with an assumption, you’re on this page because either you’ve found a song that contains a C#m chord and it’s quite difficult to play, so you’re looking for easy guitar songs with C#m to improve your skills with the chord before moving to harder ones. Or, you’ve just learned your barre Am shape and are looking for other songs that contain the same chord shape.
If it’s the latter, then I recommend that you also check out my Quick and Easy Way to Play Bm on Guitar for some great suggestions on fun songs to practice the barre Am shape. However, if it’s the C#m that you are particularly interested in, then let’s get started, it’s going to be a fun ride…
How to Play the C#m Chord
Starting with the basics, most chords can normally be played using five different finger positions due to the wonderful CAGED system (apologies but I don’t have time to explain it here). However, some, such as the C#m are more limited and can only be played using three practical CAGED system fingerings - the barre Em, the barre Am, and the barre Dm. There are of course other ways that you can create the chord, but for the sake of simplicity, let’s stick with three.
But, in practice, it’s even less than that because the Dm-shaped C#m chord can only be played with the barre on the 11th fret. This is unusual because you can normally play two different octaves of most Dm-shaped chords - lower octave from open to the 11th fret, and higher octave from the 12th fret to the end of the neck. But since the lower octave version of the C#m would start on the fret before the nut, i.e. a fret that obviously doesn’t exist, it can’t be played there.
So, we basically have two usable lower register versions of the C#m chord to choose from, and and three higher register versions which are rarely used for chordal work. These are the Em-shaped C#m which is based on the Em shape, therefore the root note of the chord is found on the low E string and it is barred on the 9th fret, as shown below:
…and the Am-shaped C#m chord which is based on the Am shape, the root note is found on the A string and it is therefore barred on the 4th fret, as shown below:
For reference, here is the Dm-shaped C#m chord which does come in useful as a full chord occasionally, but nowhere near as much as the previous two shapes, as mentioned, it is barred on the 11th fret:
Can you Play a Root C#m chord?
Well, yes and no. It is possible to create the notes of the C#m in the root position but it requires a major stretch and a lot of strength in your little finger plus you have to mute both the low and high e-strings. The low E string needs to be muted with the edge of the tip of your little finger, while the high e string needs to be muted with the bottom edge of your third finger.
All this makes the chord a serious finger twister, but it’s worth trying to play it, if only for a laugh. Here it is:
I can’t think of any song that I have ever learned that uses this version of the chord, but they are probably out there, and it could be nicely incorporated into some kind of interesting root chord arpeggio sequence.
Let’s move on to the…
Best C#m Guitar Songs
Now that you know how and where you can play the chord, let’s take a look at some of the best songs to practice a C#m chord.
The songs contain a mixture of root chords and barre chords, both the Em and Am-shaped barre chords and the E and A-shaped barre chords. If you’re still struggling with getting your E and A-shaped barres down then check out my look at How to Quickly Master the F Chord and Best Songs to Learn a B Chord and then come back to these songs afterward.
All Along the Watchtower - Jimi Hendrix
Bob Dylan’s original version of All Along the Watchtower is a masterclass in songwriting, but it wasn’t sonically exciting. But when Jimi Hendrix got his hands on it, he turned it into a psychedelic extravaganza that left listeners in a daze. He is undoubtedly one of the greatest and most innovative guitarists ever, and his amazing cover of this song is one of the reasons why.
As with most Bob Dylan songs, it’s very simple in structure, moving from G to Am to G to F for the full duration. Hendrix however, took it up a few steps starting in B before moving to C#m, back to B, and down to A. This, along with his decision to increase the speed of the song helped raise the tension and make this marvellous cover what it is.
As mentioned, the chords are:
B / C#m / B / A
The basic rhythm is simply two strums on the B chord, followed by four downstrokes on the C#m, then another two downstrokes on the B, and another four downstrokes on the A. It doesn’t get much easier than that!
This can be played using either the E and Em-shaped barre chords or the A and Am-shaped barre chords, or preferably, play it both ways to improve all your barre chords.
As with a lot of Hendrix songs, the guitar is tuned down by a semi-tone.
Boys Don’t Cry - The Cure
This is a great song to improve not only your C#m but all of your barre chords. The intro, verse, and chorus of the song consist of four chords in the following order:
A / Bm / C#m / D
The pre-chorus contains only two:
C#m / Bm / C#m / B
The rhythm isn’t easy and I’m not going to try and explain it here, but to get started just strum each chord downwards once on the first beat of each bar. Then try strumming down on the first and second beat, the first three beats, and then on every beat. Once you’ve got the hang of that, start incorporating upstrokes and match the rhythm on the recording.
You’ll notice that at the end of the ascending chordal pattern, there is a rapid descent playing a quick downstroke on every chord in reverse to get back to the start of the chord sequence. If you find this difficult at this stage, just fumble it, i.e. do your best, but don’t worry about absolute accuracy, that will come with time and practice.
The easiest way to play it is using the E and Em-shaped barre chords starting on the A on the 5th fret, moving up to the Bm on the 7th, the C#m on the 9th, and the D on the 10th fret. However, The Cure’s guitarist Robert Smith plays it using A and Am-shaped chords - starting with a root A chord, then the Bm on the 2nd fret, C#m on the 4th, and D on the 5th fret. However, he does make life easier by playing the A chord with a single flattened finger instead of the three fingers normally used, making the change to and from the barre chords easier. He also doesn’t play a full barre, making the chords easier to press down, as shown in the acoustic version below, but he is playing a 12-string guitar (I wrote a blog for you last year entitled ‘Should I Buy a 12 String Guitar?’ but I can’t find it anywhere on the site if it’s been edited yet, please include a link, thanks) so he needs all the help he can get:
Where is My Mind - The Pixies
We’ll finish our look at great songs that use a C#m chord with an indie classic, Where is My Mind by The Pixies. Again it has a simple four-chord structure which is played in the intro, the verses, and for most of the choruses. It goes like this:
E / C#m / G# / A
The E chord is played in its root position, the other three chords are all barred. The basic rhythm is a Down, Rest, Down, Down-Up for the first three chords with four repeated Down-Ups for the final A. Once you get the hang of that, incorporate more upstrokes and slide between the chords to match the rhythm in the video below:
Other Great Songs to Learn to Play the C#m Chord on Guitar
There are so many fantastic songs that you can practice to not only improve your C#m chord but also your playing generally, so pick a few from the list below and have fun mastering the C#m chord on guitar:
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All These Things I've Done - The Killers
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Angels - Robbie Williams
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Come Monday - Jimmy Buffet
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Crazy - Aerosmith
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Help! - Beatles
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Human - The Killers
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Love Is Free - Sheryl Crow
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Mama, I'm Coming Home - Ozzy Osbourne
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Sand In My Shoes - Dido
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She Don't Want Nobody Near - Counting Crows
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Whenever Wherever - Shakira
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Who You Love - John Mayer
Wrapping It Up
That’s it for my look at the best songs you should learn to improve your C#m chord on guitar. As with everything related to the instrument, practice makes perfect, so play along with the videos until you can make your guitar sound like what you’re listening to.
It takes time but is well worth the effort because the joy of being able to play along with your favorite songs and playing them to friends, family, or even concert halls full of adoring fans is priceless. Enjoy!
