Oct 29

C Major Guitar Chord

How to Play C Major Chord Guitar

Besides being the mandatory part of any guitar players arsenal, this chord also has an amazing portfolio. It is featured in almost every popular song ever, so not knowing it would quite rightly activate your FOMO to the max.

Today, we will be showing you two different versions of the C major guitar chord shapes.

One will be the standard C major open chord, and the other one will be the barre chord on the 5th fret of the 6th string.

Before we continue, just make sure to understand that the C major chord is usually written in notation as a C chord.

Ok, now that we’ve covered all the basics - full steam ahead!

Watch this video to learn How to Play C Major Chord Guitar

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Easy way of playing the C Major Guitar Chord

Let’s start with the C major open chord.

If you are a total newbie, let's first define what an open chord is. The open chord is a chord that features one or more open strings and is usually played on the first three frets.

For the open C major chord guitar shape, put your ring finger on the 3rd fret of the 5th string. Your ring finger goes on the 2nd fret of the 4th string. Finally, you should put your first finger on the 1st fret of the 2nd string.

And there you have it! The mother of all guitar chords - Guitar C Major Chord!

P.S. Oh, by the way, make sure to strum only the bottom five strings with your picking hand.

Advanced way of playing the C Major Guitar Chord

Since you have a powerful guitar-learning ally in the form of GuitarZoom, there’s no need for fear of barre chords. With a little bit of patience, you will be playing these like Paul McCartney in no time!

For this one, bar your index finger across all 6 strings on the 8th fret. Your ring finger goes on the 10th fret of the 5th string. You should put your pinky on the 10th fret of the 4th string. Finally, place your middle finger on the 9th fret of the 3rd string. With your picking hand, you are playing across all 6 strings.

Bm chord guitar practice tips:

  1. While playing the open C major guitar chord, make sure that all your open strings ring. You have to make sure that your fingers are not brushing up any unwanted strings, and thus muting them. Pick all the strings in succession, to make sure everything is ok. You may need to adjust your fretting hand’s angle

  2. When reading the C Major chord diagram, you should know that ‘’X’’ signifies a string you do not want to play.

  3. When placing your fingers for these C major chords, make sure that you are behind the fret wire. Also, barre’s aside, make sure that you are pressing the strings with your fingertips.
Pro-tip: There are many different ways of playing the C major chord on the guitar. Do you want to learn other versions of this chord? Other chords in C major scale? Or like, literally everything guitar-related? If the answer is - yes, to any of the above, make sure to join the GuitarZoom membership!