C chords on guitar

About the C chords on guitar

All chords on this page share the root C. The plainest of them is C major, built from C–E–G; A minor is its relative minor key.

C appears in C major (I), F major (V), G major (IV), A minor (III).

Triads are three-note chords, the backbone of most songs. The C triads are C (C–E–G), Cm (C–E♭–G), C5 (C–G), Cdim (C–E♭–G♭), Caug (C–E–G♯).

Seventh chords add a fourth note, a seventh above the root, for a richer or more tense sound: C7 (C–E–G–B♭), Cmaj7 (C–E–G–B), Cm7 (C–E♭–G–B♭), Cdim7 (C–E♭–G♭–B𝄫), Cm7♭5 (C–E♭–G♭–B♭), Cm(maj7) (C–E♭–G–B), Caug7 (C–E–G♯–B♭).

Extended and added-note chords stack a sixth, ninth, eleventh or thirteenth on top. On C: Cadd9 (C–E–G–D), Cm(add9) (C–E♭–G–D), C6 (C–E–G–A), Cm6 (C–E♭–G–A), C9 (C–E–G–B♭–D), Cm9 (C–E♭–G–B♭–D), Cmaj9 (C–E–G–B–D), C11 (C–E–G–B♭–D–F), C13 (C–E–G–B♭–D–A), C7♯9 (C–E–G–B♭–D♯), C7♭9 (C–E–G–B♭–D♭), C6/9 (C–E–G–A–D), Cadd11 (C–E–G–F).

Suspended chords replace the third with a second or fourth, so they sound open and unresolved: Csus2 (C–D–G), Csus4 (C–F–G), C7sus4 (C–F–G–B♭), C9sus4 (C–F–G–B♭–D).

On guitar, many C chords can be played as an open shape or as a barre chord higher up the neck. The diagrams show the most comfortable shape; each chord page has several more, a capo option and strumming patterns.

Chords marked "diagram only" are less common and do not have their own page yet; the diagram and the notes above are all you need to play them.