Part 5: Understand the chords you already hold · Lesson 044 / 117
Find C major in a second voicing
See one chord in several manageable places.
A voicing is a particular arrangement of chord tones across registers and instruments. On guitar, different grips can express the same chord. The goal is to recognise the ingredients, not accumulate unrelated pictures.
On the top three strings in G–B–high-E order, 0–1–0 gives G–C–E; 5–5–3 gives C–E–G; and 9–8–8 gives E–G–C. All contain C, E and G. Their lowest notes are G, C and E respectively.
Learn only two of these today. Name their roots and bass notes before trying to connect them. Playing each note separately is completely acceptable if a full grip is uncomfortable.
This is an early step towards CAGED: recognising repeated chord-tone relationships around the neck. We will introduce that larger map later, after it has musical work to do.
Hear it
C Voicings
Audio fileFour-beat count-in · 60 BPM · Warm sampled electric guitar. Listen once before playing along.
A concrete example
G–B–high-E frets 0–1–0 = C/G; 5–5–3 = root-position C; 9–8–8 = C/E.
Try it, slowly
- Choose two listed voicings and name their three notes.
- Identify each voicing's bass.
- Play the two slowly and compare their register while hearing the same chord identity.
Check one idea
What stays the same across these three grips?
Show the explanation
The distinct chord tones C, E and G, and therefore the C-major identity. Register, note order, bass and physical shape can change.
A good place to stop
You can recognise two grips as the same chord without assuming they must have the same bass.
Return to the example after a short break. A clear explanation matters more than speed.