What notes are in a C chord?

C is C, E, G: the 1, 3, 5 of C.

How do you play C on guitar?

Open C / C-Shape: x 3 2 0 1 0; Open A / A-Shape: x 3 5 5 5 3; Open G / G-Shape: 8 7 5 5 5 8 (low E to high E, x = don't play the string).

Guitar chord · Major

C chord (C Major)

Bright, stable, and strong fundamental major triad.

Notes CEG

Formula 1 3 5

Shapes 5 on this page

C chord shapes

Tap a diagram to strum it. Numbers are fingers: 1 index, 2 middle, 3 ring, 4 pinky. Blue dots are the root, C.

Open C / C-Shape x 3 2 0 1 0

Open A / A-Shape x 3 5 5 5 3

Open G / G-Shape 8 7 5 5 5 8

Open E / E-Shape 8 10 10 9 8 8

Open D / D-Shape x x 10 12 13 12

Interactive chord diagram

C on the fretboard

STR OP 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 E A D G B E ✕ ✕ ✕ ✕

Tap any note to hear it.

Fretwise for Android · Free

Practise C and every other chord anywhere, even offline.

This page is a small slice of the Fretwise app. On your phone you get all 20 scales and 23 chord types in every key, 7 tunings including Drop D and DADGAD, and the CAGED shapes on one tap. No sign-up.

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Questions

What notes are in a C chord?: C is C, E, G: the 1, 3, 5 of C.
How do you play C on guitar?: Open C / C-Shape: x 3 2 0 1 0; Open A / A-Shape: x 3 5 5 5 3; Open G / G-Shape: 8 7 5 5 5 8 (low E to high E, x = don't play the string).

Major chords in every key

C C# D Eb E F F# G Ab A Bb B

More C chords

Cm Cdim C5 C7 Cmaj7 Cm7 Cm(maj7) Cmaj9 C9 Cm9 Cm11 C6 Cm6 Cadd9 Csus4 Csus2 C7sus4 C7#9 Caug Cmaj7#5 Cdim7 Cm7b5