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C major guitar shapes
Popular fretboard positions with fingering suggestions
Showing 8 of 111 playable shapes
About the chord
C major guitar chord
The C major major chord, built from the root (C major), major third E, and perfect fifth G, delivers a bright, harmonious sound that feels resolved and complete. Its balanced structure makes it the foundation of Western harmony, widely used across all genres to convey joy, strength, and stability.
Root note: C
Quality: major
Chord tones: 3
Playable shapes: 111
Chord tones
CEG
Notes & Intervals
Each note below shows how the chord is built from its root. This is the theory layer underneath the fretboard shapes.
C Unison (Root) 1
The root anchors the chord and defines its tonal center.
E Major Third 3
This note defines the chord's major quality and brings brightness to the sound.
G Perfect Fifth 5
The fifth reinforces stability and gives the chord its strong harmonic frame.
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