PlayAlong Lesson 5

Your Next Chord - C Major

We continue on with one of the most important guitar chords: C Major. Typically, popular songs use three major chords to accompany most melodies. These major chords are the I, IV and V chord. In the case of G Major these chords are G (I), C (IV), and D (V). The C Chord is the one we haven't learned until this lesson. This chord will give you much more flexibility when playing along with popular songs.

But first we want to review the D chord...

Review of The Simple D Chord

The C Scale on the B String

The C Major scale is one of the most often used scales in popular music. It begins at B1 of the B string and goes up that string to B13. The key of C Major does not have any sharps or flats. The easiest way to form the chord on just 4 strings, but if you want to add the A and even the low E strings, you can do that too. It will just take some practice.

The C Scale at the Open Position

This scale begins at A3 of the A string (string 5) and ends at B1 of the B string. This is a really important scale, no spend some time to learn it properly.

The Basic C Major Chord

The C Major chord is fairly easy to play, especially if you limit yourself to just the 4 string version.

Chording to Row Row Your Boat in C

Here's the same song we played in the last lesson, but in this case it is in C Major, rather than D or G. Just use one chord all the way through. And you can try your hand at the "1-2-3-Rest Strum" as described in the video.

Moving Between C and G Chords

Here's a familiar song you can use to practice changing chords between C and G. Three Blind Mice.

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