How to Play C Major on the Guitar - Open Position

I recently covered the G Major chord, and now it's time to learn how to play a C Major chord. The C Major chord is a very important and versatile chord to know how to play. You'll soon be using it with all sorts of great songs!

Remember that there are many different ways to play a C Major chord on the guitar, but we will be first starting with the open position chord. These open position chords are the building blocks to success as you learn how to play guitar. Once you have the fundamentals down, it will make things much easier as your playing improves.

Make sure to tune up your guitar (using standard tuning EADGBE) and keep in mind that string 1 on the guitar has the highest tone (an E string), while string 6 has the lowest tone (also an E string).

Here is how to play a C Major chord (open position):

* Place your left ring finger on the 5th string, 3nd fret

* Place your left middle finger on the 4th string, 2nd fret
* Place your index finger on the 2nd string, 1st fret
* Strings 1 and 3 are used in the C Major chord, but not fretted - they are called "open" strings
* The "X" on string 6 means that you do not play this string.  You will only be strumming strings 5 through 1.

Note:  The numbers 0, 1, 2 and 3 inside the green circles represent what fingers to use when playing a C Major chord (0=open string, no finger needed!, 1=your index finger, 2=your middle finger, 3=your ring finger).

I recommend using a guitar pick, if possible, and slowly strumming the strings to practice a C Major chord.

The next blog post will cover the D Major chord.  Once you can play a G, C, and D chord, you are well on your way to playing a ton of great songs!   Many famous musicians have created memorable hits songs using just these basic chords!  Try to focus on the C Major chord shape and sound.  It may take some time, but your practice will pay off!