Practice C Major: Perfect Your Chords with Live Fretboard Feedback

Play the C major chord and you sound three notes: C, E and G, a root, a major third and a perfect fifth. In the key of C major it is the I chord, and it is also the IV chord of G major and the V chord of F major.

This page lists 18 voicings, from the open x32010 shape to barre shapes up to the 10th fret. Every chord tone belongs to the C major scale, so that scale is the natural source for melody notes. New to chords in general? Begin with the first ten guitar chords.

On the interactive fretboard at the top you can hear C strummed, then picked as an arpeggio.

C major guitar chord is also written as C, Cmaj, CM or CΔ.

C maj chord Notes:

C E G

How the Major chord is built:

Formula: 1 3 5

C Maj Chord Interactive Fretboard

Want a structured chord roadmap instead of jumping between pages?
Go to the full guitar chords tutorial.

C Maj Guitar Chord Diagrams

Position 1 Open

Finger Positions

Let the low E string play without pressing any fret
Let the G string play without pressing any fret
Let the high E string play without pressing any fret
Place your index finger (1) on the fret 1 of the B string
Place your middle finger (2) on the fret 2 of the D string
Place your ring finger (3) on the fret 3 of the A string

Position 2 Barre Movable

Finger Positions

Mute the low E string
Mute the high E string
Place your index finger (1) on the fret 3 of the A string
Place your ring finger (3) on the fret 5 of the D, G and B strings at the same time

Position 3 Barre Movable

Finger Positions

Place your index finger (1) on the fret 8 of the low E, B and high E strings at the same time
Place your middle finger (2) on the fret 9 of the G string
Place your ring finger (3) on the fret 10 of the A string
Place your pinky finger (4) on the fret 10 of the D string

Position 4 Open

Finger Positions

Mute the low E string
Let the G string play without pressing any fret
Let the high E string play without pressing any fret
Place your index finger (1) on the fret 1 of the B string
Place your middle finger (2) on the fret 2 of the D string
Place your ring finger (3) on the fret 3 of the A string

Position 5 Open

Finger Positions

Mute the low E string
Mute the A string
Mute the D string
Let the G string play without pressing any fret
Let the high E string play without pressing any fret
Place your index finger (1) on the fret 1 of the B string

Position 6 Barre Movable

Finger Positions

Mute the low E string
Place your index finger (1) on the fret 3 of the A and high E strings at the same time
Place your ring finger (3) on the fret 5 of the D, G and B strings at the same time

Position 7 Open

Finger Positions

Mute the low E string
Let the high E string play without pressing any fret
Place your index finger (1) on the fret 3 of the A string
Place your middle finger (2) on the fret 5 of the D string
Place your ring finger (3) on the fret 5 of the G string
Place your pinky finger (4) on the fret 5 of the B string

Position 8 Open

Finger Positions

Let the G string play without pressing any fret
Let the high E string play without pressing any fret
Place your index finger (1) on the fret 1 of the B string
Place your middle finger (2) on the fret 2 of the D string
Place your ring finger (3) on the fret 3 of the low E string
Place your pinky finger (4) on the fret 3 of the A string

Position 9 Movable

Finger Positions

Mute the A string
Mute the D string
Mute the B string
Mute the high E string
Place your middle finger (2) on the fret 8 of the low E string
Place your ring finger (3) on the fret 9 of the G string

Position 10 Open

Finger Positions

Mute the low E string
Let the G string play without pressing any fret
Mute the high E string
Place your index finger (1) on the fret 1 of the B string
Place your middle finger (2) on the fret 2 of the D string
Place your ring finger (3) on the fret 3 of the A string

Position 11 Barre Movable

Finger Positions

Mute the low E string
Mute the A string
Place your index finger (1) on the fret 5 of the D, G and B strings at the same time
Place your pinky finger (4) on the fret 8 of the high E string

Position 12 Movable

Finger Positions

Mute the low E string
Mute the A string
Mute the D string
Place your index finger (1) on the fret 3 of the high E string
Place your ring finger (3) on the fret 5 of the G string
Place your pinky finger (4) on the fret 5 of the B string

Position 13 Barre Movable

Finger Positions

Mute the low E string
Mute the A string
Mute the high E string
Place your index finger (1) on the fret 5 of the D, G and B strings at the same time

Position 14 Movable

Finger Positions

Mute the low E string
Mute the G string
Mute the B string
Mute the high E string
Place your index finger (1) on the fret 2 of the D string
Place your middle finger (2) on the fret 3 of the A string

Position 15 Barre Movable

Finger Positions

Mute the low E string
Mute the A string
Place your index finger (1) on the fret 8 of the B and high E strings at the same time
Place your middle finger (2) on the fret 9 of the G string
Place your ring finger (3) on the fret 10 of the D string

Position 16 Open

Finger Positions

Mute the low E string
Let the G string play without pressing any fret
Place your index finger (1) on the fret 1 of the B string
Place your middle finger (2) on the fret 2 of the D string
Place your ring finger (3) on the fret 3 of the A string
Place your pinky finger (4) on the fret 3 of the high E string

Position 17 Open

Finger Positions

Mute the low E string
Mute the D string
Let the G string play without pressing any fret
Mute the high E string
Place your index finger (1) on the fret 3 of the A string
Place your pinky finger (4) on the fret 5 of the B string

Position 18 Open

Finger Positions

Mute the A string
Let the G string play without pressing any fret
Let the high E string play without pressing any fret
Place your index finger (1) on the fret 1 of the B string
Place your middle finger (2) on the fret 2 of the D string
Place your ring finger (3) on the fret 3 of the low E string

Find more shapes in our all guitar chords online library. If you prefer a printable pdf, download the Free Guitar Chords Chart Pdf

Play This Chord With Other Roots

The C Guitar Chord On Guitar

The C Major chord is built on the C Major scale, stacking the 1st, 3rd and 5th notes:

C D E F G A B C

So, counting 1, 3 and 5, we get: C E and G.

Keys Where You Can Find The C Major Chord

The C major chord contains natural notes only, so it's present in different keys:

C Major Key

Key	I	ii	iii	IV	V	vi	vii
C	C	Dm	Em	F	G	Am	B dim

G Major Key

Key	I	ii	iii	IV	V	vi	vii
G	G	Am	Bm	C	D	Em	F# dim

F Major Key

Key	I	ii	iii	IV	V	vi	vii
F	F	Gm	Am	Bb	C	Dm	E dim

E Minor Key

Key	i	ii	III	iv	v	VI	VII
E	Em	F# dim	G	Am	Bm	C	D

A Minor Key

Key	i	ii	III	iv	v	VI	VII
A	Am	B dim	C	Dm	Em	F	G

Progressions That Use The C Major Chord

There are probably thousands of songs with a C major chord somewhere. Here are some of the most popular:

1 4 5: C F G
1 6m 4 5: C Am F G
1 5 6m 4: C G Am F

My full tutorial on common chord progression will give you a detailed view on how put chords together.

Scales To Play Over a C Major Chord

Basically any scale that has a Major Third and a Perfect Fifth will be a great fit for this chord, for example:

C major scale
C Lydian scale
C Mixolydian scale
C Major Pentatonic scale

To learn more about this concept, check my complete ebook Scales Over Chords | Learn How To Play The Right Scales Over Any Chord.

Songs With The C Major Chord

The C major chord is one of the most used, and you can find it in songs like Imagine, The House Of The Rising Sun, Hallelujah, Time After Time, Ain't No Sunshine, Blowin’ in the Wind and many others.

You definitely want to learn it!

Want to Learn Everything About Chords?

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You'll learn how to play 44 chords types across all the fretboard, with many voicings and fingerings

In the ebook you can also find maps show you the tones in a chord all along the fretboard. They are incredibly helpful because allow you to:

Create new voicings on the fly, across all the neck
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In the new ebook, Chords Domination, you'll find the fretboard tones maps for 44 different qualities of chords. Check it out:

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Created by

Giancarlo Facoetti

Giancarlo is a musician (teaching guitar since 2000), software engineer, AI consultant and published researcher

FAQ

What notes are in C major?

C major contains C, E and G. They are the root, the major third and the perfect fifth, numbered 1, 3 and 5 in the chord formula.

Why does C major sound major and not minor?

The third decides it. E sits four semitones up from C, which is a major third, while a minor third would sit only three semitones up. The fifth, G, is seven semitones up from C.

In which keys does C major appear as a main chord?

C major is the I chord in C major, the IV chord in G major and the V chord in F major. In each of those keys all three of its notes belong to the scale.

Which scale fits over C major?

The C major scale contains C, D, E, F, G, A and B, so every chord tone is in it. That makes it a natural choice for melody over the chord.

How many ways are there to play C major?

C major has 18 voicings in total, 9 using open strings and 6 using a barre. The highest of them reaches the 10th fret.