C Guitar Chord | 12 Best Ways to Play (with Charts)
C Major Guitar Chord (12 Easy Ways To Play with Charts)
The C Major chord has something of a dual nature. It's one of the most commonly seen chords and a staple of every guitarists arsenal, but it can also be a difficult one for beginners to pull off -- especially if they haven't built up the dexterity and strength in their hands to make the necessary stretch across strings.
There's more than one way to play this all-important chord, and we'll be showing you the 10 best variations of C Major in today's lesson.
How to Play C Major Guitar Chord
The "normal" way to play C Major, in open position, involves three fingers on your fretting hand and requires you to make a little bit of a stretch from the first fret up to the third fret across several strings:
Place your 1st finger on the 2nd string/1st fret
Place your 2nd finger on the 4th string/2nd fret
Place your 3rd finger on the 5th string/3rd fret
Play strings 1 and 3 open
Mute string 6
C Major Guitar Chord Four-Finger
You can also put a slight twist on this voicing, incorporating your 4th finger into the mix for a different sound:
Place your 1st finger on the 2nd string/1st fret
Place your 2nd finger on the 4th string/2nd fret
Place your 3rd finger on the 5th string/3rd fret
Place your 4th finger on the 1st string/3rd fret
Play string 3 open
Mute string 6
C Major Guitar Chord #1
There are several other ways to play C Major in open position, however, such as:
Use your 1st finger to bar the strings on the 3rd fret
Place your 2nd finger on the 4th string/5th fret
Place your 3rd finger on the 3rd string/5th fret
Place your 4th finger on the 2nd string/5th fret
Mute string 6
C Major Guitar Chord #2
Place your 1st finger on the 4th string/2nd fret
Place your 2nd finger on the 5th string/3rd fret
Place your 3rd finger on the 1st string/3rd fret
Mute strings 2, 3, and 6
C Major Guitar Chord 5th Fret
Those open position variants require a fair deal of dexterity, but believe it or not, they aren't the biggest stretch you can make to play C Major. If you're looking for a challenge, you might instead try this voicing on the 5th fret on for size:
Use your 1st finger to cover strings 2, 3, and 4 at the 5th fret
Place your 2nd finger on the 5th string/7th fret
Place your 3rd finger on the 6th string/8th fret
Place your 4th finger on the 1st string/8th fret
C Major Guitar Chord 7th Fret #1
For a brighter sounding C Major chord, you'll want to move further up the fretboard. You'll find three voicings you can play at the 7th fret:
Place your 1st finger on the 5th string/7th fret
Place your 2nd finger on the 6th string/8th fret
Place your 4th finger on the 4th string/10th fret
Play string 3 open
Mute strings 1 and 2
C Major Guitar Chord 7th Fret #2
Place your 1st finger on the 5th string/7th fret
Place your 2nd finger on the 6th string/8th fret
Place your 3rd finger on the 2nd string/8th fret
Place your 4th finger on the 1st string/8th fret
Mute strings 3 and 4
C Major Guitar Chord 7th Fret #3
Place your 1st finger on the 5th string/7th fret
Place your 2nd finger on the 6th string/8th fret
Place your 3rd finger on the 2nd string/8th fret
Mute strings 1, 3, and 4
C Major Guitar 6-String Barre
Head higher up the fretboard, to the 8th fret, and you can play C Major as a 6-string barre chord:
Use your 1st finger to bar the strings at the 8th fret
Place your 2nd finger on the 3rd string/9th fret
Place your 3rd finger on the 5th string/10th fret
Place your 4th finger on the 4th string/10th fret
C Major Guitar Non-Barre #1
You also have two non-barre options available to you at the 8th fret:
Place your 1st finger on the 6th string/8th fret
Place your 2nd finger on the 2nd string/8th fret
Place your 3rd finger on the 3rd string/9th fret
Mute strings 1, 4, and 5
C Major Guitar Non-Barre #2
Place your 1st finger on the 2nd string/8th fret
Place your 2nd finger on the 3rd string/9th fret
Place your 3rd finger on the 4th string/10th fret
Mute strings 1, 5, and 6
C Major Guitar Advanced
That last one is especially tricky, since you'll need hit only three strings (and mute all others), but you have one more option left for playing C Major just a little higher on the fretboard:
Place your 1st finger on the 4th string/10th fret
Place your 2nd finger on the 3rd string/12th fret
Place your 3rd finger on the 1st string/12th fret
Place your 4th finger on the 2nd string/13th fret
Mute strings 5 and 6
Practice Hard to Master This Chord
Some of these C Major voicings are difficult to master, but this is a very essential chord, so be sure to work hard at adding as many to your repertoire as possible. Good luck, and as always, happy practicing!