C Major Chord
C
If you look at the diagram on the right, you can see that the C major chord contains the notes C, E and G. The chord takes its name from the first note of the chord. This note is called the root note of the chord. Major chords are usually described by a letter name only, so a C major chord would usually be called a C chord. Although this chord contains more than three notes, there are still only three different notes, because notes C and E occur twice in this fingering.
Once you are comfortable picking the open strings with your right hand fingers, try this example. The left hand holds down the C chord shape shown above, while the right hand picks the notes of the chord which occur on the 5th, 3rd, 2nd and 1st strings. They are picked slowly in the first two bars (using quarter notes) and then at twice the speed (using eighth notes).
