The C5 guitar chord is built from the notes C, G. Its first guitar voicing is the open position: low E string muted; A string at fret 3 (middle finger); D string muted; G string open; B string at fret 1 (index finger); high e string at fret 3 (ring finger). It is a power chord chord, and this page gives you its exact notes, the fingerings that work on the guitar, the mistakes to avoid and the progressions it appears in.
What notes are in the C5 chord?
The C5 chord is a power chord chord, and its notes are fixed: C, G. Every voicing on every instrument uses these same notes, in some order and in some octave — change one of them and you are playing a different chord. The table below lists each note with its interval from the root C, so you can see the structure of C5 at a glance. On the guitar, the open position voicing is the place to hear it in C5.
| Note | Interval |
|---|---|
| C | Root |
| G | 5 |
The root is C, the note the chord is named after and the note your ear hears as home. Above it, the intervals in C5 are 5. That combination is what makes C5 sound the way it does: the intervals decide the colour, and the root decides the pitch. On the guitar, the notes appear in the order the fingering dictates, but the set of notes never changes.
C5 sounds bold and simple, two notes that cut through a mix better than any full chord. That character comes straight from the intervals above, not from the instrument: the same notes on piano, guitar or ukulele carry the same colour, even though the voicing changes. On the guitar, the open position of C5 puts those notes under your fingers in the order the fingering lists them.
Comparing C5 with its closest relatives helps to fix it in your ear. In short, power chord against a full triad: C5 has only C, G — root and 5th. Add the 3rd E and it becomes major; add D# and it becomes minor. Practise the two chords back to back and listen to the one note that changes — that single note is the difference between the two chords. On the guitar, start with the first voicing above and listen for the notes C, G in C5.
How to play C5 on guitar
On the guitar, C5 has 3 voicings in the data below, and each one uses the same notes — C, G — in a different place on the neck. Start with the first voicing and get it clean before you try the movable shapes further up the neck. Finger numbers below use 1 for the index finger, 2 for the middle finger, 3 for the ring finger and 4 for the little finger, and x means the string is not played.
The open position puts C5 in open position: low E string muted; A string at fret 3 (middle finger); D string muted; G string open; B string at fret 1 (index finger); high e string at fret 3 (ring finger). The challenge here is the muted strings: 2 strings are marked x, and they need to stay silent. Let the edge of a fretting finger rest lightly on them — muting by touch, not by pressing. Strum or pluck it slowly first and check that every note in C5 — C, G — sounds, with no buzz and no accidental open string.
Another way to play C5 is the barre chord, in around fret 5: low E string at fret 8 (middle finger); A string muted; D string at fret 5 (index finger); G string at fret 5 (index finger); B string at fret 8 (ring finger); high e string at fret 8 (ring finger). It barres across strings 3 to 4 at fret 5 with the index finger. The barre is the hard part: the index finger must press every string from 3 to 4 evenly at fret 5, so roll it slightly onto its bony side and keep it close to the fret wire. If the barre buzzes, move it a fraction closer to the fret and press from the arm, not the thumb alone. Strum or pluck it slowly first and check that every note in C5 — C, G — sounds, with no buzz and no accidental open string.
For the movable voicing, C5 sits in around fret 5: low E string at fret 8 (middle finger); A string muted; D string at fret 5 (index finger); G string open; B string at fret 8 (ring finger); high e string at fret 8 (ring finger). The challenge here is the muted string: 1 string is marked x, and it needs to stay silent. Let the edge of a fretting finger rest lightly on it — muting by touch, not by pressing. Strum or pluck it slowly first and check that every note in C5 — C, G — sounds, with no buzz and no accidental open string.
Choosing between the voicings of C5 is a musical decision, not a right-or-wrong one. The open or low-position voicing rings the most and suits strumming, while a barre or movable voicing lets you slide C5 up the neck to any key without changing the shape. When you change chords, pick the voicing of C5 that sits closest to the chord before it — shorter moves between shapes mean faster, cleaner changes. Practise the change into C5 from the chord that comes before it in your song, not the chord on its own, because the move is the skill. On the guitar, the open position of C5 puts those notes under your fingers in the order the fingering lists them.
A short practice routine for C5 on the guitar: play the first voicing four times slowly, checking each note, then change to it from the chord a fourth above C and back, four times, at a slow tempo. Then play the second voicing the same way. If a note buzzes, stop and fix the finger placement rather than playing through the buzz — clean notes at a slow tempo become clean notes at full tempo, while buzzes practised fast become habits. Use the Guitar Chord Finder to see the diagram for C5 while you practise, and the Chord Finder to compare it with the same chord on other instruments.
Common mistakes
These are the mistakes that most often make C5 sound wrong on the guitar, and each one has a concrete fix. Work through them one at a time rather than trying to fix everything at once.
Adding a 3rd by accident. A stray finger on the 3rd can turn a power chord into a triad, which sounds muddy through distortion. Mute the strings that should not sound. On the guitar, start with the first voicing above and listen for the notes C, G in C5.
Letting open strings ring. Open strings that are not part of the chord blur the sound. Mute them with the edge of your fretting hand. On the guitar, the open position voicing is the place to hear it in C5.
Playing it too slowly. Power chords are about rhythm and movement. Practise changing them on the beat, not between beats. On the guitar, the open position voicing is the place to hear it in C5.
Using it where a triad is needed. C5 has no 3rd, so it cannot carry the major-or-minor information a melody sometimes needs. Use full triads in clean, melodic passages. On the guitar, start with the first voicing above and listen for the notes C, G in C5.
Where C5 is used
C5 is not a diatonic triad in any major or minor key, because it is an extended or altered chord, but its base triad belongs to the key of C major, the key of F major, the key of G major. a moving chord: power chords slide up and down the neck as a single shape. As a dominant-type chord it also points toward F major, the key a perfect fourth above C, which is the tonic it most often resolves to. That is where C5 does its work: not as a home chord, but as a chord that creates movement and then resolves. On the guitar, the open position of C5 puts those notes under your fingers in the order the fingering lists them.
Because C5 is an extended or altered chord, it appears in progressions as a colour or a dominant rather than as a diatonic staple. Try it in place of the plain C triad in a progression you already know, and listen to how the extra notes change the feel — that substitution is the usual way extended chords enter real music. The Chord Progression Builder lets you try C5 in a progression in any key and hear how it connects to the chords around it. On the guitar, start with the first voicing above and listen for the notes C, G in C5.
The same chord on other instruments is covered in C5 on piano, C5 on ukulele, C5 on bass, and the scales that fit over it are the C major scale and the C minor pentatonic scale. Learning C5 on the guitar and then checking it on another instrument is one of the best ways to fix the notes — C, G — in your memory, because the notes stay the same while everything else changes.
Practising C5
A short worked example makes C5 concrete. Play the four-chord progression F – C – Dm – A# in F major, the key C5 most often resolves toward: F – C – Dm – A#. Play each chord for one bar at a slow tempo, and listen to how C5 sounds in that sequence — whether it feels like home, like a lift, or like a chord on its way somewhere else. Then play the same four chords in a different order, starting on C5 itself, and notice how its character changes when it opens the progression instead of sitting inside it. On the guitar, the open position of C5 puts those notes under your fingers in the order the fingering lists them.
For a second exercise, play C5 and then the chord a fourth above C, back and forth, four times each. That move — a chord and the chord a fourth above it — is the most common resolution in Western music, and it is the move C5 is built for when it acts as a dominant. Finish by playing C5 on its own, slowly, and naming each note out loud as you play it: C, G. Naming the notes while you play them is what turns a shape into knowledge you can use in any key. Test yourself with the Practice Chord Quiz and keep time with the Metronome as the tempo rises. On the guitar, start with the first voicing above and listen for the notes C, G in C5.
Frequently asked questions
What is the easiest voicing of C5 on the guitar?
The open position is the easiest voicing listed for C5 on the guitar: frets x–3–x–0–1–3, fingers 0–2–0–0–1–3. Learn that shape first, get every note ringing cleanly, and only then move on to the alternative voicings further up the neck.
Is C5 major or minor?
Neither. C5 contains only C, G — the root and the perfect 5th — so it has no 3rd to make it major or minor. That is why it works over both. On the guitar, the first voicing above shows where that note sits.
Why do rock guitarists use C5?
Through distortion, full triads sound muddy because the overtones clash. A power chord has only two notes, so it stays clear and punchy even with heavy distortion. On the guitar, the first voicing above shows where that note sits.
What notes are in C5?
Just two: C, G. The root C and the perfect 5th G. Some voicings add the root an octave higher, but the chord itself is only those two pitch classes. On the guitar, the first voicing above shows where that note sits.
How do you play C5 on the guitar?
The first voicing is the open position: frets x–3–x–0–1–3, fingers 0–2–0–0–1–3, on the guitar. That voicing uses the notes C, G, and it is the one to learn first. The page above lists more voicings for C5, so you can choose the shape nearest the chords around it.