Hey Friend,
You most likely already know and love the open C major chord. It's probably one of the first chords you learned on guitar. You may have even been introduced to the C major barre chord.
Well hang on to your hat, because you're going to be able to play the C major chord in all sorts of positions besides those two.
I intend the Chord Clinic course to be fairly comprehensive, so at times, I will present chord shapes that will be challenging to some of you.
Use what you can, and practice at whatever gives you trouble. This is the only way you grow your skills.
The beauty of this approach is that your skills will grow more quickly when you work past difficulties.
Before I get to the C major chord shapes, I want to talk a little about the CAGED system with regards to the chord shapes we can use.
If you recall, C-A-G-E-D references five common chord shapes - the shapes for each of these major chords. Each letter represents a basic open chord: 'C' is C major, 'A' is A major, 'G' is G major, 'E' is E major and 'D' is D major.
Each of the chord shapes used for these open chords is movable, meaning these shapes allow you to move around the neck with ease, playing chords in any position. Some of them are very easy to use. Others are not, at least when they're not in their open position.
NOTE: Let me clarify - when I say "position," I mean the location on the guitar neck. Open position is found within the first three frets or so.
Open C and G major aren't too bad, but if you move them up the neck, the fingering has to change a bit to maintain the proper notes. This makes chord changes fun at times.
Open A, D and E major can be played "as-is" in their fingering and slid up the neck without any trouble.
Here's the point - each of these chord shapes can be used for every major chord. All you have to do is move the shape into the proper position for the chord you want. Want to use the A shape to play a C major chord? Just move it to the correct position (the fifth fret).
I can hear you asking yourself, "Well how do I find the right position?"
Easy. Just go back to the pattern for the C major scale - W W H W W W H. The scale is C, D, E, F, G, A, B, so apply the scale pattern to see how many frets there are between the open chord position and the chord you want to play.
Remember, in terms of frets, W = 2 and H = 1 fret to move. The pattern in frets is 2, 2, 1, 2, 2, 2, 1. Use that pattern to move the chord shape up the neck.
Looking at the example again of moving the A shape to find the C major chord, review the C major scale. The open A shape gives an A major chord. If we want to go to C major from A major, we add up the frets between notes A and C: A to B is two frets, B to C is 1 fret. The A major chord shape has your fingers on the second frets of the fourth, third and second strings. Without changing your finger at all, move them up three frets to the fifth fret and play the three strings. That is the C major chord.
Okay, there's a lot to digest here. I know I've covered it in the past, but repetition is good. Again, there's more exercises coming.
Hi ho, it's off to work I go... See you tomorrow!
Peace~
Dave | 
