BeginnerMajor

C Chord

The C is a major chord that sounds bright, happy, and resolved. Major chords are the backbone of countless songs. Their bright, stable sound makes them perfect for strumming, picking, and rhythm playing across every genre.

Notes:CRoot (1)EMajor 3rd (3)GPerfect 5th (5)

Open Position

C✕321

Chord Diagrams

Open Position

No barre required

C✕321

Barre Shape, Fret 3

Uses a barre chord technique

C3fr✕12341

How to Play C

Follow these steps for the open position fingering:

#StringInstructionNote
1Low E (6th string)✕Mute, do not play this string–
2A (5th string)●Fret 3 with your ring fingerE
3D (4th string)●Fret 2 with your middle fingerG
4G (3rd string)○Open, play the open stringC
5B (2nd string)●Fret 1 with your index fingerE
6High E (1st string)○Open, play the open stringG

○ = Open string (no fingers needed)

✕ = Muted string (don't play)

● = Press your finger down firmly just behind the fret

Notes in C

The C chord is built from 3 distinct notes, each serving a harmonic role:

C
Root (1)
The root, gives the chord its name
E
Major 3rd (3)
The major third, creates the bright sound
G
Perfect 5th (5)
The fifth, adds power and stability

Songs Using C

These songs from our play-along library feature the C chord:

Your Idol

Saja Boys

intermediate

Mr. Jones

Counting Crows

beginner

seasons

wave to earth

advanced

Summer of '69

Bryan Adams

intermediate

One Name

Anirudh Ravichander, Super Subu

intermediate

Ho Hey

The Lumineers

beginner

Tum Hi Ho

Arijit Singh

intermediate

Brown Eyed Girl

Van Morrison

beginner

ZLATA OGNEVICH

Zlata Ognevich

intermediate

Straight Up

Karan Aujla & MXRCI

intermediate

Eye Of The Tiger

Survivor

intermediate

Been By Now

Morgan Wallen

beginner

The House of the Rising Sun

The Animals

beginner

Nicole Kidman

ADÉLA

intermediate

Better Together

Jack Johnson

intermediate

Yesterday

The Beatles

intermediate

Babydoll

Dominic Fike

intermediate

Problems

Mother Mother

advanced

Putaapu Gang

Anirudh Ravichander, Thamizh Aadhavan

intermediate

Pink Skies

Zach Bryan

intermediate

In A Minute

Lil Baby

beginner

Wish You Were Here

Pink Floyd

beginner

Redemption Song

Bob Marley

beginner

Creedence Clearwater Revival: Have You Ever Seen The Rain?

masterofacdcsuckaS

beginner

Hey Joe

Jimi Hendrix

beginner

More Than a Feeling

Boston

intermediate

Quebec

Drake

intermediate

Baba O'Riley

The Who

beginner

You Are My Sunshine

Jimmie Davis

beginner

How It’s Done

HUNTR/X

intermediate

Training Season

Dua Lipa

intermediate

Ala Bolelo

Anirudh Ravichander, Arunraja Kamaraj

intermediate

No Woman, No Cry

Bob Marley

advanced

Love Me Do

The Beatles

beginner

Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye

Steam

advanced

Welcome To The Jungle

Guns N' Roses

advanced

Monster Mash

Bobby "Boris" Pickett

intermediate

Dust in the Wind

Kansas

intermediate

My Body Isn't Ready

sombr

advanced

Paint It, Black

The Rolling Stones

advanced

Boston

STELLA LEFTY

beginner

Shake It To The Max (Fly) (Remix)

MOLIY, Shenseea, Skillibeng, Silent Addy

beginner

Kesariya

Arijit Singh

beginner

La Bamba

Ritchie Valens

beginner

Dream On

Aerosmith

intermediate

Spooky, Scary Skeletons (Undead Tombstone Remix)

Andrew Gold

intermediate

Stairway to Heaven

Led Zeppelin

intermediate

Gehra Hua

Shashwat Sachdev, Arijit Singh, Irshad Kamil & Armaan Khan

intermediate

Easy On Me

Adele

beginner

Dil Hai Na

Aditya Rikhari

beginner

House of the Rising Sun

The Animals

beginner

Channa Mereya

Arijit Singh

beginner

undressed

sombr

intermediate

Safar

Arijit Singh

beginner

Zombie

The Cranberries

beginner

I Will Survive

Gloria Gaynor

intermediate

Pete Yorn

Pete Yorn

beginner

You Shook Me All Night Long

AC/DC

intermediate

Kaun Tujhe

Palak Muchhal

beginner

Psycho Killer

Talking Heads

intermediate

Patient Zero

Taylor Swift

beginner

expectations

Olivia Rodrigo & Chappell Roan

intermediate

Sweet Home Alabama

Lynyrd Skynyrd

beginner

(Don't Fear) The Reaper

Blue Öyster Cult

beginner

Play On

Geoff Gibbons

beginner

Magic Man

Heart

intermediate

Ain’t No Love In Oklahoma

Luke Combs

beginner

Made You Look

Meghan Trainor

intermediate

Stuck in the Middle with You

Stealers Wheel

intermediate

Slow Ride

Foghat

intermediate

The Scientist

Coldplay

beginner

I Remember Everything

Zach Bryan feat. Kacey Musgraves

beginner

Poison

Alice Cooper

advanced

vampire

Olivia Rodrigo

intermediate

Hooked On a Feeling

Blue Swede

intermediate

All I Want for Christmas Is You

Mariah Carey

advanced

21 Guns

Green Day

beginner

Ik Vaari Aa

Arijit Singh

advanced

Too Sweet

Hozier

intermediate

Smells Like Teen Spirit

Nirvana

intermediate

Marvins Room

Drake

beginner

Flowers

Miley Cyrus

intermediate

We Are Young

Fun. feat. Janelle Monáe

intermediate

Have You Ever Seen the Rain

CCR

beginner

March Madness

Future

intermediate

"Soda Pop" Official Lyric Video | KPop Demon Hunters | Sony Animation

Sony Pictures Animation

intermediate

Free Fallin'

Tom Petty

beginner

Easy Lover

Miley Cyrus

beginner

Hallelujah

Leonard Cohen

intermediate

I Was Made For Lovin' You

Kiss

advanced

Black Betty

Ram Jam

advanced

twilight zone

Ariana Grande

beginner

Espresso

Sabrina Carpenter

intermediate

Madwoman

Laufey

advanced

Tere Bin

Atif Aslam

beginner

I'm Eighteen

Alice Cooper

beginner

American Pie

Don Mclean

beginner

Staring at the Sun

The Offspring

intermediate

Something In The Orange

Zach Bryan

beginner

Dreams (2004 Remaster)

Fleetwood Mac

beginner

Perfect Strangers

Deep Purple

intermediate

SWIM

BTS

advanced

The Fate of Ophelia

Taylor Swift

beginner

Bulleya

Amit Mishra

advanced

Beds Are Burning

Midnight Oil

intermediate

YUKON

Justin Bieber

intermediate

Mishri

Anuv Jain

beginner

Hurt

Johnny Cash

beginner

Abhi Mujh Mein Kahin

Sonu Nigam

intermediate

Californication

Red Hot Chili Peppers

intermediate

Here I Go Again

Whitesnake

beginner

Main Hoon Hero Tera

Armaan Malik

intermediate

Samjho Na

Aditya Rikhari

beginner

Mr. Brightside

The Killers

intermediate

Life is a Highway

Rascal Flatts

intermediate

Let Her Go

Passenger

beginner

Count on Me

Bruno Mars

beginner

I Write Sins Not Tragedies

Panic! At The Disco

intermediate

Sunday Morning

Maroon 5

intermediate

Woh Ladki Jo

Abhijeet

advanced

Home

Phillip Phillips

beginner

Risk It All

Bruno Mars

advanced

Golden

HUNTR/X

intermediate

I Ain't Worried

OneRepublic

intermediate

Tom Sawyer

Rush

intermediate

Xanadu

Rush

advanced

Like a Stone

Audioslave

intermediate

So Good

Jhené Aiko feat. Kendrick Lamar

intermediate

Barracuda

Heart

intermediate

Can't Get Enough

Bad Company

beginner

In The Air Tonight

Phil Collins

intermediate

Austin (Boots Stop Workin')

Dasha

beginner

Gimme All Your Lovin'

ZZ Top

beginner

Houdini

Dua Lipa

intermediate

Welcome to the Black Parade

My Chemical Romance

advanced

Gerua

Arijit Singh

intermediate

Panic in Detroit

David Bowie

intermediate

Free Bird

Lynyrd Skynyrd

intermediate

Guess feat. billie eilish

Charli xcx

intermediate

I Had Some Help

Post Malone feat. Morgan Wallen

beginner

The Stroke

Billy Squier

intermediate

Girls, Girls, Girls

Mötley Crüe

intermediate

Sweet Melody

Little Mix

advanced

Lose My Mind

Don Toliver feat. Doja Cat

beginner

Physical

Dua Lipa

intermediate

All The Stars

Kendrick Lamar, SZA

intermediate

At Peace

Karan Aujla & Ikky

advanced

Tears

Sabrina Carpenter

intermediate

My Love Mine All Mine

Mitski

intermediate

Me And My Broken Heart

push baby

beginner

Sports car

Tate McRae

advanced

Livin' On A Prayer

Bon Jovi

advanced

Lover

Diljit Dosanjh

intermediate

Knockin' on Heaven's Door

Bob Dylan

beginner

Please Please Please

Sabrina Carpenter

advanced

It's My Life

Bon Jovi

intermediate

Linger (SiriusXM Session)

Royel Otis

intermediate

Creep

Radiohead

intermediate

I Bet on Losing Dogs

Mitski

advanced

Venus

Shocking Blue

intermediate

Good Times by Finger Eleven

RockofVengeance

intermediate

Stiff Upper Lip

AC/DC

intermediate

Rock of Ages

Def Leppard

intermediate

Layla

Derek & The Dominos

advanced

Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)

Green Day

beginner

Iktara

Kavita Seth

beginner

Boulevard of Broken Dreams

Green Day

intermediate

JUMP

BLACKPINK

intermediate

Losing My Religion

R.E.M.

intermediate

Manchild

Sabrina Carpenter

beginner

Leaving on a Jet Plane

John Denver

beginner

Bekhayali

Arijit Singh

intermediate

Smooth Criminal

Michael Jackson

advanced

Creedence Clearwater Revival: Fortunate Son

masterofacdcsuckaS

beginner

Escape (The Pina Colada Song)

Rupert Holmes

beginner

Jump

Van Halen

intermediate

How It's Done

HUNTR/X

intermediate

High Hopes

Panic! At The Disco

intermediate

Nothing Else Matters

Metallica

intermediate

Burning Pile

Mother Mother

advanced

Nain Matakka

Dhee, Diljit Dosanjh, Thaman S, Irshad Kamil

intermediate

Wonderful Tonight

Eric Clapton

beginner

Rockstar

LISA

beginner

Time After Time

Cyndi Lauper

advanced

Zaroorat

Mustafa Zahid

intermediate

The Dead Dance

Lady Gaga

beginner

Akele hain to kya gum hai

Alka Yagnik,Udit Narayan

intermediate

Babydoll

Jamie Miller

beginner

Kisses ft. bbyclose

BL3SS x CamrinWatsin

advanced

Wild Thing

The Troggs

beginner

Lies

Zach Bryan & Lana Del Rey

beginner

Beauty and a Beat

Justin Bieber feat. Nicki Minaj

intermediate

Call Your Mom

Noah Kahan

beginner

Wild Side

Mötley Crüe

beginner

Bad Dreams

Teddy Swims

beginner

we can't be friends (wait for your love)

Ariana Grande

beginner

Layla (Unplugged)

Eric Clapton

advanced

Lush Life

Zara Larsson

intermediate

Lut Gaye

Jubin Nautiyal

intermediate

Opalite

Taylor Swift

intermediate

Come As You Are

Nirvana

intermediate

Mere Rashke Qamar

Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan

beginner

tv off

Kendrick Lamar

advanced

Tears in Heaven

Eric Clapton

advanced

Heart of Gold

Neil Young

beginner

Saiyaara Reprise (Female)

Shreya Ghoshal

beginner

Wrecking Ball

Mother Mother

intermediate

Teri Deewani

Kailash Kher

beginner

New Woman

LISA feat. ROSALÍA

intermediate

Down on the Corner

Creedence Clearwater Revival

beginner

Jeena Jeena

Atif Aslam

beginner

Banana Pancakes

Jack Johnson

beginner

Pain

Jimmy Eat World

intermediate

Eternity

Alex Warren

intermediate

Roxanne

The Police

advanced

Forever Young

Alphaville

beginner

Smoke On the Water

Deep Purple

beginner

Love Me Not

Ravyn Lenae

beginner

Why Don't You Get A Job

The Offspring

beginner

Hawa Banke

Darshan Raval

intermediate

Comfortably Numb

Pink Floyd

intermediate

Pretty Ugly

Zara Larsson

intermediate

Zindagi Kuch Toh Bata (Reprise) | Bajrangi Bhaijaan

Pritam

intermediate

Indigo

Sam Barber feat. Avery Anna

beginner

Under the Bridge

Red Hot Chili Peppers

advanced

Sultans of Swing

Dire Straits

beginner

Carry On Wayward Son

Kansas

intermediate

Aperture

Harry Styles

beginner

Wasted Summers

juju

beginner

Internet Girl

KATSEYE

advanced

Guess featuring billie eilish

Charli xcx

intermediate

How You Remind Me

Nickelback

beginner

Somewhere Over the Rainbow

Israel Kamakawiwoʻole

beginner

Enna Sona

Arijit Singh

intermediate

Let It Be

The Beatles

beginner

Tu Jaane Na

Atif Aslam

intermediate

Take Me to Church

Hozier

beginner

THE GREATEST

Billie Eilish

beginner

Bohemian Rhapsody

Queen

advanced

Blackbird

The Beatles

advanced

Sharp Dressed Man

ZZ Top

intermediate

Ring of Fire

Johnny Cash

beginner

Seven Nation Army

The White Stripes

intermediate

ABC

Jackson 5

intermediate

Heartbreaker

Pat Benatar

intermediate

Ashke

Karan Aujla, MXRCI

intermediate

One Sun One Moon

Anirudh Ravichander, Super Subu, Heisenberg

intermediate

Golden

HUNTR/X

beginner

La Plena (W Sound 05)

Beéle, Westcol & Ovy On The Drums

intermediate

Aerosmith Walk This Way

Aerosmith

intermediate

Somedays

Sonny Fodera, Jazzy, D.O.D

beginner

"Your Idol" | Official Song Clip | KPop Demon Hunters | Sony Animation

Sony Pictures Animation

intermediate

Raataan Lambiyan

Jubin Nautiyal

intermediate

I Thought I Saw Your Face Today

She & Him

advanced

DYNAMITE

Tyla x Wizkid

intermediate

One Wild Night

Bon Jovi

intermediate

Immigrant Song

Led Zeppelin

intermediate

Renegade

Styx

intermediate

Nonsense

Sabrina Carpenter

intermediate

Bad Angel

Anyma, LISA

intermediate

Abracadabra

Lady Gaga

intermediate

Gift or a Curse

Porter Block

intermediate

APT.

ROSÉ & Bruno Mars

intermediate

Anxiety

Doechii

intermediate

A Night To Remember

beabadoobee, Laufey

advanced

Sign of the Gypsy Queen

April Wine

intermediate

Don't Fear the Reaper- Blue Öyster Cult

SpiritWriterSong

beginner

No One Knows

Queens of the Stone Age

intermediate

So Easy (To Fall In Love)

Olivia Dean

advanced

Urn

Crying City

intermediate

Other C Chords

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