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Major chords on guitar: how they are built and how to play them

Major chords are the first family every guitarist learns and the one most songs are built on. Understanding them comes down to four ideas: the root, the major third, the fifth, and the string the chord starts on. Get those and you can play the open shapes properly, find any major chord on the neck with a barre, and hear why a single note turns a major chord into a minor one.

How a major chord is built

A major chord has three notes: the root, the major third (four frets, or two whole steps, above the root) and the perfect fifth (seven frets above the root). In scale steps that is 1, 3 and 5.

Chord Root Major third Fifth
C C E G
G G B D
D D F# A
A A C# E
E E G# B

The third is the note that decides the color. Swap the E in C major for E flat and you are no longer playing C, you are playing C minor. That is the whole difference between this page and the minor chords page.

On the symbol, a letter on its own means major: C is C major. You will sometimes see CM or Cmaj, which mean the same thing.

The open major chords

Five major chords have open shapes that every guitarist uses: C, D, E, G and A. Four of them are drawn here; D is xx0232, played on the top four strings only.

E major 0 2 2 1 0 0 · 2 3 1 · · fingers
A major x 0 2 2 2 0 · · 1 2 3 · fingers
C major x 3 2 0 1 0 · 3 2 · 1 · fingers
G major 3 2 0 0 0 3 2 1 · · · 3 fingers
Chord Shape Start on
C x32010 Fifth string
D xx0232 Fourth string
E 022100 Sixth string
G 320003 Sixth string
A x02220 Fifth string
Watch the bass. The lowest note you play is the bass; the root is the note that names the chord. They are usually the same, but not always: F played as x33211 is a real F major with C in the bass. When the bass is not the root, you are playing an inversion.

Every other major chord: two movable shapes

F, B, B flat, F sharp and the rest have no comfortable open shape. You get them by taking an open shape, laying the first finger across the strings as a movable nut, and sliding the whole thing up the neck.

F major, E shape 1 3 3 2 1 1 1 3 4 2 1 1 fingers
B major, A shape x 2 4 4 4 2 · 1 2 3 4 1 fingers
  • The E shape, root on the sixth string. Open E is 022100; barred at the first fret it is F (133211), at the third it is G (355433). Find the root on the low E string, barre that fret, and the chord has the root's name.
  • The A shape, root on the fifth string. Open A is x02220; barred at the first fret it is B flat (x13331), at the second it is B (x24442).

Before the full barre, F has a small version that most players start with: xx321x, F, A and C on the middle four strings. The barre chords page gives the fret for every major chord in both shapes, and the CAGED system adds the three other shapes.

Every major chord

Major chords in progressions

A major chord sounds open and settled, but that color only matters when it lands at the right moment. In any major key, the three major chords are the I, the IV and the V, and these are the progressions to practice first:

Key I, IV, V
CC, F, G
GG, C, D
DD, G, A
EE, A, B

Start with G, C and D, all open. Keys of C and E bring F and B, which is when the movable shapes earn their place. Every chord of every key is on the chords in every key page.

When the plain major chords are steady, add color without changing much under the hand: add9 chords, major seventh chords, sus2 and sus4 chords.

Frequently asked questions

What is a major chord on guitar?
Three notes: the root, the major third four frets above it, and the perfect fifth seven frets above it. C major is C, E and G. On guitar those three notes are usually repeated across five or six strings, but the chord is still those three notes.
Which major chords should I learn first?
E, A, D, G and C, the open chords. Then F without the full barre (xx321x), and B once barre chords start to feel possible. With the five open ones you can already play a large share of folk, pop and rock songs.
Why do some major chords use five or six strings?
Because the three notes can be doubled. Open E plays E three times, B twice and G sharp once. More strings means a fuller sound, but only if every string belongs to the chord: that is why C and A start on the fifth string and D on the fourth.
How do I play a major chord with no open shape, like B or B flat?
Use a movable shape. With the root on the sixth string, play the E shape barred at that fret. With the root on the fifth string, play the A shape barred at that fret. B is the A shape at the second fret (x24442), B flat the same shape at the first (x13331).
Yohann Abbou, guitar teacher and founder of Guitar Social Club

Who made this

Guitar Social Club is the work of Yohann Abbou, a guitar teacher in Paris. He teaches adults, which is why this page explains the formula before the shapes: once you know that a major chord is three notes, the five open shapes and the two barre shapes stop being things to memorize. All the chord families are gathered on the guitar chords page.

More about Yohann on his page, and about why Guitar Social Club exists.