C guitar chord
C major. Notes: C E G.01
BeginnerEasy shape
Open position · Open & bright
Keep your first finger curled so the open high E can ring.
String by string, low to high
- Low E muted: don’t play it
- A fret 3, finger 3 (C)
- D fret 2, finger 2 (E)
- G open (G)
- B fret 1, finger 1 (C)
- High E open (E)
02
IntermediateHarder shape
A-shape · fret 3 · Full & movable
Root on the 5th string at fret 3. Set your first finger across fret 3 first, then add the others.
String by string, low to high
- Low E muted: don’t play it
- A fret 3, finger 1 (C)
- D fret 5, finger 2 (G)
- G fret 5, finger 3 (C)
- B fret 5, finger 4 (E)
- High E fret 3, finger 1 (G)
Hear it, then check it
Chordbyte plays this shape, then listens through your microphone and marks each string that rang, came out quiet, or should have been muted. It runs in your browser: free, no account, nothing recorded or sent.
Open C in Chordbyte03
Practise changing to C
Four-chord progressions with C in them. Each opens in Chordbyte with a metronome, a play-along and a one-minute changes drill.
- C major, I–V–vi–IV: C G Am FAs in “Let It Be” by The Beatles.
- C major, I–vi–IV–V: C Am F GAs in “Stand by Me” by Ben E. King.
- C major, vi–IV–I–V: Am F C GAs in “Zombie” by The Cranberries.
- C major, I–IV–V–I: C F G CAs in “La Bamba” by Ritchie Valens (the same I, IV and V).
- C major, I–ii–IV–V: C Dm F G
- C major, I–IV–I–V: C F C GAs in “Brown Eyed Girl” by Van Morrison (verse).
- G major, I–V–vi–IV: G D Em CAs in “Let It Be” by The Beatles.
- G major, I–vi–IV–V: G Em C DAs in “Stand by Me” by Ben E. King.
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