7 Ways to Play the C Major Chord on Guitar

This simple lesson contains seven C major chord guitar diagrams. These particular voicings - some of the most common - are easy to play and ideal for beginners or anyone who wants a way to expand their chord vocabulary without getting into complex chord shapes.

All of these C major chords are displayed with a diagram, arpeggiated guitar tab and sound sample.

Included for Each Chord

• Full chord diagram
• Tab version (of the arpeggiated chord - one note at a time)
• Audio sample

In the table of contents section, we've listed all the chords covered here (seven total) with a click-to-jump link for easy browsing. We'll start with the most common open C major chord shape and work our way down.

1: Open C Major

The Most Common Form of C major on the Guitar

This form of the C major chord is likely one of the first chords you've learned, and is the most common voicing of the chord. It's considered an open chord because of the open G (third string) that provides the fifth interval. You'll play the chord using your third finger (ring finger) to anchor the root note at the third fret.

CHord Properties

• Root location: 3rd fret
• Intervals: Major 3rd, Perfect 5th and Octave
• Difficulty: Moderate

2: Root Plus the Fifth

C Major Power Chord

This chord shape is more properly called a "dyad" because it uses only two notes, the root and the perfect fifth. It's a commonly used power chord, regardless of the root note, though in this case it's a perfectly acceptable way to play the C chord. You could use the same shape with the root C note on the eighth fret and the sixth string.

CHord Properties

• Root location: 3rd or 8th fret
• Intervals: Perfect 5th
• Difficulty: Easy

3: Barred Triad

Root, Major Third & Perfect Fifth

If you're unfamiliar with barre chords, this shape can be a little bit difficult to play, because barring is the most effective way to fret all three notes. It's best to use either your first or third finger to barre the chord meaning the shape doesn't require much stretching. Note that the lower-most note is a G, meaning the chord is inverted.

You can check additional resources at the bottom of this page for more info on chord inversions. It basically means that the bass note - C - is assumed and the chord we play has an interval as the lowest note in the chord (G in this case).

If you ignore the theory - which is fine to do for now - it's an easy C chord to learn.

CHord Properties

• Root location: 5th fret
• Intervals: Major 3rd & perfect 5th (inverted)
• Difficulty: Moderate

4: Full C Major Power Chord

Root, Fifth & Octave

This is another really common power chord shape, differing from our previous power chord by only one note while adding an octave above the root C. You might use this shape to thicken a power chord or give it some additional sustain. Once again, it can be applied in the key of C to either the third fret fifth string or eighth fret sixth string.

CHord Properties

• Root location: 3rd or 8th fret
• Intervals: Perfect 5th & Octave
• Difficulty: Moderate

5: Root Plus Major Third

Dyadic Major Tone Power Chord

Our second dyadic C chord adds a major third interval to the root note, which is easy to grab with your first finger if you use your second finger to fret the root C. Again, it's located at the third fret, but can work at the eighth as well where both locations place a C note in the chord's root.

CHord Properties

• Root location: 3rd or 8th fret
• Intervals: Major 3rd
• Difficulty: Easy

6: Root Plus Octave

Dyadic C Chord (two Roots)

Our third two-note chord is a pairing of two C notes, one on the third fret and another on the fifth. This forms a simple, two-note dyad in the key of C which is movable and can also be played on the sixth string at the eighth fret. 

CHord Properties

• Root location: 3rd or 8th fret
• Intervals: Upper octave
• Difficulty: Easy

7: Open C Major (modded version)

Power C Chord with High Intervals

This version of the open C major adds a major second interval (the D note at the second string on the third fret) and is considerably easier to play than the original open C major. You can use your middle finger to grab the root note while your ring finger will play the high D note. Your G will ring as the open third string.

CHord Properties

• Root location: 3rd fret (open chord)
• Intervals: Perfect 5th, major 2nd
• Difficulty: Easy

Conclusion

These chord shapes are some of the simplest and most intuitive ways to play C major on the guitar. They're by no means a comprehensive look at the C chord, but they do give you a lot of variety aside from the common open voicing. That form of the C chord is taught a lot and is often the first stop that teachers or students will make to learn the chord.

As such, if you're looking for some variety for the C chord or if you're a teacher and you want to give your students better examples to follow, these resources are a great option for you.

Here are a couple downloadable resources:

• PDF of this Lesson
• Zip file with all the chord diagrams, tabs and audio samples

Sometimes using simpler chord shapes and working your way up to the more complex voicings is a better way to learn and to teach guitar chords. Start with the root note and add intervals as you go. Here's what we've covered in this lesson:

• Root (C)
• Major third (E)
• Perfect fifth (G)
• Octave (C)
• Major second (D)

Your Questions & Comments

If you have questions about this material or even the supplemental material provided, feel free to ask them in the comments section below. We prefer that over an email, just because comments will stay on the page and have the potential to benefit future readers who might have similar questions.

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