To help remind you, try flipping your guitar and playing it with the other hand, fretting this chord. Every now and again I do exactly this to remind myself how tough it is for beginners, and it's quite humbling!
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Every single guitar student has either been through it, coming up to it or currently in it… The struggle of learning the C major chord. For those of us many years past this point it's hard to remember just how tricky it is to fret this chord when you first start.
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Dan Holton
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We all go through the C major chord struggles, and in this blog post I want to take the time to not only help you understand why it's a tough step, but also give you some awesome examples of how you can substitute this chord with easier versions whilst you're still working with the main shape. This will help make the process less frustrating, and allow you to still play songs you love without the constant fret buzz! So, let's dive into it and start by looking at the video.
The video
Here is the YouTube video for you guys to check out, if you haven't already. Yes it was filmed a good few years ago (As you can see from the quality and my slightly less grey hair!) but don't worry, the content is still bang on. You can also grab all the downloads here.
Why is it so hard?
Let's kick off by understanding why the C major can be so hard to learn. The main reason is due to the stretch that all three fingers need to make. Most chord shapes you have tackled up to this beginners point of the journey will be spanning just 2 frets, whilst the C major chord spans 3 frets. As well as that we need to think about the open G and E string ringing out AND trying not to play the low E string.
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The most common thing I see as a tutor is the D and G string not ringing out, and that is because the third finger, to get the stretch, is also muting the string(s) below. It's simply something to work through, and we'll do that in this lesson, with this song.
Dan Holton
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The chords…
To help you master this chord, we've created a song that includes a range of variations on the C major chord. These chords are the Cmajor7 and Cadd9 chord. They are subtly different from the basic C major triad chord, in that they contain an extra note each. This is important to understand, as they both have a C major triad in them (the 3 notes that make a major chord), but they also have one extra note - a 7th or a 9th. So at the heart of these chords they are C major, just picture them as having a little upgrade, like when you have a fancy new haircut, you are still you… Just with a prettier haircut! 😂
Let's take a look at these two new chord shapes:
Want to understand the theory?
If all this theory talk is interesting to you, I would highly recommend our Theory Lab courses, or alternatively work through your beginners pathway when you sign up for a Club membership. We slowly work through all of this theory for you to practice and understand fully!
Now that's not all of the chords in this tack, we've also strategically added a few other chords that compliment the C major full shape, to further help you practice that stretch! These chords are:
The chord chart
With those chords outlined, let's take a look at the chord chart itself, as then we'll have everything we'll need to nail this song. The rhythm pattern is really simple, and the rate of change for the chords is also nice and simple; one bar each chord apart from the Am7 which is two. It looks like this:
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So you have the track, and it's now up to you to put the practice in. Above all else, when it comes to learning any chord or song, you need to put the time into your practice. No trick or tip will help without a big chunk of practice! If you want more structure in your practice, sign up to the Club today!
Dan Holton
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I really hope this helps guys, and have a great time putting it together. Remember you can get the track to download here and play along to! Good luck!