slash chord · C root

C/G chord

PositionOpen position

More actions

Recorded strum

The C over G chord is built from the notes G, C, E, G. It turns up 2 times in the 80 songs on this site, including The Boxer.

Difficulty Beginneropen positionbeginneressentialinversion1 positionIn 1 song

By Chiye · Updated September 12, 2026

What is the C/G chord?

The C/G chord (C over G) is a slash chord built from four notes: G, C, E, G — the 1–3–5 of the C scale, 4 semitones and 7 semitones above the root. On guitar it is most often played in open position (3-3-2-0-1-0) with 4 fingers while 2 strings ring open. It is rated beginner — most players learn it in their first weeks. The same triad with a different note placed in the bass, so the chord keeps its identity while the lowest voice walks underneath it. It is one of the most-used chords in this site's library: across the 80 song sheets charted here, C/G appears 2 times in 1 song, most often in the key of C, and the chord it most often moves to is Am. Below you will find step-by-step fingering, audio of every shape, and the real progressions this chord lives inside.

How do you play the C/G chord on guitar?

Open position — the easiest version of C/G on the guitar.

C/Gfrets 3-3-2-0-1-0

Press the low E string at fret 3 with your ring finger.
Press the A string at fret 3 with your pinky finger.
Press the D string at fret 2 with your middle finger.
Press the B string at fret 1 with your index finger.
Strum all six strings and let every one ring.

If it will not ring yet

If it buzzes, the usual cause is a fingertip sitting in the middle of the fret space instead of just behind the wire. Move the whole hand a few millimetres toward the bridge and the buzz usually disappears without any extra pressure. 3-3-2-0-1-0

How do you make C/G sound clean?

The mistake everyone makes

C/G ends up as a full barre because players assume the G must ring on every string.

The drill that fixes it

C → C/G → Am: one bass note changing. Keep the top three strings untouched.

In real songs

What songs use the C/G chord?

chord changes: 2
songs: 1
common keys: C

Across the 80 chord sheets on this site, C/G appears 2 times in 1 song — most often in the key of C.

The BoxerSimon & Garfunkel

GC/GC/EC

The BoxerSimon & Garfunkel

CC/GAmAm

Browse all 1 song sheets that use the C/G chord →

Chord flow

What chord comes after C/G?

Most common beforeC1×

C/G

Most common afterAm1×

Those figures are counted from the 80 chord sheets on this site, so they describe what songwriters actually played rather than what theory says should come next.

After C/G, songs go to

Am1×
C/E1×

C/G arrives from

C1×
G1×

Three-chord moves

Three-chord moves are where a chord really shows its character. These are the ones that actually happen in this library, counted from the sheets:

C/G → C/E → C2×

The theory behind C/G

C/G is spelled G – C – E – G — the 1 – 3 – 5 of the C scale, which is the root plus 4 semitones, 7 semitones. The same triad with a different note placed in the bass, so the chord keeps its identity while the lowest voice walks underneath it.

The letter after the slash is a bass note, not a new chord. C/G is the same C shape with one low string fretted differently, which is how a bass line walks underneath a chord that is not moving.

What key is the C/G chord in?

C/G is the C major triad with G in the bass, so it stands in for the same three chords: the I in C major, the IV in G major and the V in F major.

Iin C major

the home chord — songs resolve here

IVin G major

the subdominant — the chord that leaves home

Vin F major

the dominant — the chord that pulls back home

C/G on other instruments

Piano

G – C – E – G — all white keys, so you can find the shape by counting up from C.

Take it to the practice room

C over G chord diagram for guitar — C/G fingering chart with notes G, C, E, G, open position — A printable one-pager for C/G — fingering, neck position, notes and difficulty on a single sheet sized for printing or a phone screen.Download the card

C/G chord FAQ

What notes are in a C/G chord?

G, C, E, G — the 1–3–5 of the C scale, or the root plus 4 semitones, 7 semitones. The same triad with a different note placed in the bass, so the chord keeps its identity while the lowest voice walks underneath it.

Is C/G a hard chord to play?

C/G is rated beginner on this site. Only 4 strings need a finger — the other 2 ring open. Holding the shape is easy; the practice goes into arriving on it in time and leaving it cleanly.

Which songs use the C/G chord?

2 of the chord changes in our 80-song library use C/G, across 1 song: The Boxer (Simon & Garfunkel, key of C).

What chord usually follows C/G?

In our library C/G moves most often to Am (1 times), then C/E (1 times). That ordering is measured, not assumed: it is the actual sequence of chords in the songs charted here.

Why is there no separate page for every C/G-type chord?

Chords like C/G have real search demand, so they get their own page. The rarer shapes in the same family live together on the slash chords and inversions page, where they can be compared side by side — that is more useful than dozens of near-identical pages.