C Major Chord on 12-String Guitar
Play C Major on 12-String Guitar: diagrams, finger positions, intervals, and every voicing up and down the neck for this instrument.
The C Major chord is a bright, stable major triad — one of the first chords most players learn. It is built from the notes C, E, G. This page shows how to play C Major on 12-String Guitar with clear fretboard diagrams and suggested finger positions.
The G and E strings ring open in the lowest shape, with the remaining notes fretted at fret 1 over a 3-fret stretch. The E string stays silent, so 5 of 6 sound. C falls on the A string. It sounds from C3 up to E4. 5 voicings are charted, the highest starting at fret 10.
12-String Guitar is strung in six courses of two, the lower four paired an octave apart, so each stopped note here sounds as two — which is why the shape rings thicker than the same grip on a single-strung instrument.
Browse alternate voicings to find the one that sits best under your fingers, then compare it with the other chord types built on C or explore the same shape in nearby keys. The diagrams list the notes in each voicing so you can connect the shape to the theory behind it.