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.
Open Position
Chord Diagrams
Open Position
No barre required
Barre Shape, Fret 3
Uses a barre chord technique
How to Play C
Follow these steps for the open position fingering:
| # | String | Instruction | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Low E (6th string) | ✕Mute, do not play this string | – |
| 2 | A (5th string) | ●Fret 3 with your ring finger | E |
| 3 | D (4th string) | ●Fret 2 with your middle finger | G |
| 4 | G (3rd string) | ○Open, play the open string | C |
| 5 | B (2nd string) | ●Fret 1 with your index finger | E |
| 6 | High E (1st string) | ○Open, play the open string | G |
○ = 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:
Read the deep-dive guide for C
Songs Using C
These songs from our play-along library feature the C chord:
Layla (Unplugged)
Eric Clapton
Summer of '69
Bryan Adams
Easy On Me
Adele
seasons
wave to earth
Survivor - Eye Of The Tiger
Survivor
Boulevard of Broken Dreams
Green Day
Dasha - Austin
BagOnly
Somewhere Over the Rainbow
Israel Kamakawiwoʻole
Heart of Gold
Neil Young
Nothing Else Matters
Metallica
ZLATA OGNEVICH
Zlata Ognevich
Tame Impala - My Old Ways
tameimpala
STAY
The Kid Laroi
ROSÉ & Bruno Mars - APT.
ROSÉ
Better Together
Jack Johnson
Yesterday
The Beatles
Burning Pile
Mother Mother
Zach Bryan - Pink Skies
Zach Bryan
Wish You Were Here
Pink Floyd
Sultans of Swing
Dire Straits
Hallelujah
Leonard Cohen
Redemption Song
Bob Marley
Creedence Clearwater Revival: Have You Ever Seen The Rain?
masterofacdcsuckaS
The Who - Baba O'riley
Zumie94
Kenny Loggins - Footloose
Miluzie
Training Season
Dua Lipa
Love Me Do
The Beatles
Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye - Steam - 1969
74sodapop
Queens of the Stone Age - No one Knows
0foofighter0
Dust in the Wind
Kansas
Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)
Green Day
Creep
Radiohead
Don't Fear the Reaper- Blue Öyster Cult
SpiritWriterSong
The Rolling Stones - Paint It, Black
ABKCO
MOLIY, Shenseea, Skillibeng, Silent Addy - Shake It To The Max (Fly) (Remix)
MOLIY
Derek and the Dominos - Layla
TacoBender79
juju - Wasted Summers
jujumusic
AC/DC - You Shook Me All Night Long
acdc
La Bamba
Ritchie Valens
Tere Bin
Atif Aslam
House of the Rising Sun
The Animals
Noah Kahan - Call Your Mom
NoahKahan
Boston - More Than a Feeling
Boston
Lut Gaye
Jubin Nautiyal
Ik Vaari Aa
Arijit Singh
Wonderful Tonight
Eric Clapton
Crying City - Urn
Chill Only
Akele hain to kya gum hai
Alka Yagnik,Udit Narayan
sombr - undressed
sombr
Blackbird
The Beatles
Zombie
The Cranberries
Safar
Arijit Singh
Motley Crue - Wild Side with Lyrics
Unknown
Mr. Jones
Counting Crows
broken
lovelytheband
Alphaville - Forever Young
Pizza Music
Kaun Tujhe
Palak Muchhal
Billy Squier - The Stroke
Unknown
Samjho Na
Aditya Rikhari
Sweet Home Alabama
Lynyrd Skynyrd
Take Me to Church
Hozier
Teri Deewani
Kailash Kher
Heart-Magic Man
Unknown
Play On
Unknown
Made You Look
Meghan Trainor
Stairway to Heaven
Led Zeppelin
Mishri
Anuv Jain
Bohemian Rhapsody
Queen
The Scientist
Coldplay
The White Stripes - Seven Nation Army
v94j
vampire
Olivia Rodrigo
Californication
Red Hot Chili Peppers
1. Blue Swede - Hooked on a Feeling
Joel Gustafsson
Zaroorat
Mustafa Zahid
Nickelback - How You Remind Me
Nickelback
Smells Like Teen Spirit
Nirvana
Welcome to the Black Parade
My Chemical Romance
Alex Warren - Eternity
Unknown
21 Guns
Green Day
Flowers
Miley Cyrus
We Are Young (feat. Janelle Monáe)
Fun.
Ariana Grande - we can't be friends (wait for your love)
ArianaGrande
Free Fallin'
Tom Petty
Have You Ever Seen the Rain
CCR
Lil Uzi Vert - What You Saying
Unknown
Luke Combs - When It Rains It Pours
LukeCombs
Pat Benatar - Heartbreaker
DJSocio18
Aerosmith Walk This Way
Aerosmith
Miley Cyrus - Easy Lover
MileyCyrus
Animals - The House Of The Rising Sun
v94j
Could you Be Loved
Bob Marley
Let It Be
The Beatles
Nain Matakka
Dhee, Diljit Dosanjh, Thaman S, Irshad Kamil
Don McLean- American Pie
Unknown
Ho Hey
The Lumineers
Alice Cooper - I'm Eighteen
Unknown
Deep Purple - Perfect Strangers
DeepPurple
APT.
ROSÉ
Mere Rashke Qamar
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
Taylor Swift - The Fate of Ophelia
LatinHype
Gerua
Arijit Singh
Channa Mereya
Arijit Singh
Enna Sona
Arijit Singh
Hurt
Johnny Cash
Time After Time
Cyndi Lauper
Pain! - Jimmy eat world
Meerschweinchen99
Here I Go Again-Lyrics-Whitesnake
eggs712
Life is a Highway
Rascal Flatts
I Write Sins Not Tragedies
Panic! At The Disco
Let Her Go
Passenger
Sunday Morning
Maroon 5
Count on Me
Bruno Mars
How It’s Done
HUNTR/X
Home
Phillip Phillips
Bruno Mars - Risk It All
Unknown
Golden
HUNTR/X
Audioslave - Like a Stone
Audioslave
Rush - Xanadu
Rush
Rush - Tom Sawyer
Rush
Bad Company - Can't Get Enough
Unknown
Heart - "Barracuda" (1977)
Heart
ZZ Top - Gimme All Your Lovin'
Unknown
Deep Purple - Smoke On the Water
Deep Purple
Aerosmith - Dream On
Aerosmith
Phil Collins - In The Air Tonight
Phil Collins
Austin (Boots Stop Workin')
Dasha
Bon Jovi - Livin' On A Prayer
BonJovi
Houdini
Dua Lipa
The Offspring - Why Don't you get a job? Lyrics
YoSabina
5. Elvin Bishop - Fooled Around and Fell in Love
Joel Gustafsson
Lynyrd Skynyrd - Free Bird
Unknown
Van Halen - Jump
Van Halen
Guess feat. billie eilish
Charli xcx
Kansas - Carry On Wayward Son
kansas
Cold Heart (PNAU Remix)
Elton John
The Weeknd - Blinding Lights
TheWeeknd
Zara Larsson - Pretty Ugly
ZaraLarssonMusic
Don Toliver - Lose My Mind (feat. Doja Cat)
Don Toliver
Blinding Lights
The Weeknd
Sam Barber - Indigo (feat. Avery Anna) (Lyric Video)
Sam Barber
Luke Combs – Ain’t No Love In Oklahoma (From Twisters: The Album)
Luke Combs
Not Like Us
Kendrick Lamar
W Sound 05 "LA PLENA" - Beéle, Westcol, Ovy On The Drums
W Sound
Zach Bryan - I Remember Everything (feat. Kacey Musgraves)
Zach Bryan
Zach Bryan - Something In The Orange
Zach Bryan
Zara Larsson - Midnight Sun
Unknown
"How It's Done" Official Lyric Video
Unknown
BTS (방탄소년단) ‘SWIM’ Official MV
Unknown
David Guetta, Teddy Swims, Tones and I - Gone Gone Gone
David Guetta
Taylor Swift - Opalite (Lyric Video)
Unknown
Anyma, LISA - Bad Angel
Anyma
Bon Jovi - One Wild Night(album version)
Unknown
Doechii - Anxiety (Visualizer)
Iamdoechii
Charli xcx - Guess featuring billie eilish
Charli xcx
ZZ Top Sharp Dressed Man
Unknown
Led Zeppelin - Immigrant Song
SNEM0SDN5
Styx-Renegade Lyrics
RockinBassPlayer3
Bon Jovi
Unknown
Linger (SiriusXM Session)
Royel Otis
Shocking Blue - Venus (Video)
Unknown
Kansas - Dust in the wind 1977
Magnus Schult
I will survive - Gloria Gaynor
70sand80s4u
Sonny Fodera, Jazzy, D.O.D - Somedays
Sonny Fodera
Def Leppard - Rock Of Ages lyrics
MeJeNiFeRx
Post Malone - I Had Some Help (feat. Morgan Wallen)
PostMalone
Lynyrd Skynyrd - Sweet Home Alabama
ShawnxXxMichaels
BLACKPINK '뛰어(JUMP)' (Color Coded Lyrics)
Unknown
Iktara
Kavita Seth
Knockin' on Heaven's Door
Bob Dylan
Alice Cooper - Poison
AliceCooper
R.E.M. - Losing My Religion
remhq
Sabrina Carpenter - Manchild
Vibe Music
Tu Jaane Na
Atif Aslam
Leaving on a Jet Plane
John Denver
Beds Are Burning - Midnight Oil
onlythepianoplayer
Sign of the Gypsy Queen
April Wine
Rupert Holmes - (Escape) The Pina Colada Song
Unknown
High Hopes
Panic! At The Disco
Hey Joe
Jimi Hendrix
LISA - ROCKSTAR
SyrebralVibes
Ravyn Lenae - Love Me Not
R&BHype
Sabrina Carpenter - Nonsense
Unique Sound
Ariana Grande - twilight zone (lyric visualizer)
ArianaGrande
Sierra
Unknown
Lady Gaga - The Dead Dance
Vibe Music
Lady Gaga - Abracadabra
7clouds
Brown Eyed Girl
Van Morrison
Sabrina Carpenter - Tears
TrendingTracks
Justin Bieber - Beauty And A Beat ft. Nicki Minaj
Unknown
ROSÉ & Bruno Mars - APT.
Vibe Music
Doechii - Anxiety
Vibe Music
Teddy Swims - Bad Dreams
7clouds
WizTheMc, bees & honey - Show Me Love
Unknown
Post Malone & Morgan Wallen - I Had Some Help
Unknown
Ariana Grande - We Can’t Be Friends
Lost Panda
KATSEYE - Internet Girl
7clouds
Huntrix
Unknown
Taylor Swift - Opalite
Unknown
Porter Block - Gi
Unknown
Come As You Are
Nirvana
Comfortably Numb
Pink Floyd
Pete Yorn
Pete Yorn
beabadoobee, Laufey - A Night To Remember
beabadoobee
Tears in Heaven
Eric Clapton
Wrecking Ball
Mother Mother
Saiyaara Reprise - Female | Ahaan, Aneet | Tanishk, Faheem, Arslan | Shreya | Irshad
YRF
Billie Eilish - THE GREATEST (BILLIE BY FINNEAS)
Unknown
Bleachers - you and forever
Bleachers
Bekhayali
Unknown
Down on the Corner
Creedence Clearwater Revival
Banana Pancakes
Jack Johnson
Jeena Jeena
Atif Aslam
Kesariya
Arijit Singh
Riha
Anuv Jain
Tere Sang Yaara
Atif Aslam
Bol Do Na Zara
Armaan Malik
Bulleya
Amit Mishra
Hawa Banke
Darshan Raval
Zindagi Kuch Toh Bata (Reprise) | Bajrangi Bhaijaan
Pritam
Main Hoon Hero Tera
Armaan Malik
Other C Chords
Explore other chord types built on the same root note:
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