C Major Scale on Piano & Guitar + Chords in the Key of C Major

👑 Here's a majestic C major scale reference which shows the notes, finger position on the piano keyboard, intervals, scale degrees, diatonic chords and common chord progressions in C major.

🎸 You'll also find the C major scale on the guitar fretboard.

The C major scale is a diatonic scale consisting of the pitches C, D, E, F, G, A and B. It's one of the most important scales in Western music, and it serves as the basis for the construction of many other scales and modes.

The C major scale has no accidentals (sharps or flats), making all of its notes natural notes.

Given that it has no accidentals and that the C major scale is simply all the white keys on a piano keyboard, it's an easy scale to learn, especially on the piano.

→ go to all major & minor scales

C major scale piano layout & finger position

Here's a piano keyboard showing the notes of the C major scale, followed by a visual for the finger position on the piano. Hit play to hear the notes of the C major scale up and down:

• C
• D
• E
• F
• G
• A
• B
• C

C Major Scale on Guitar

🎸 Here you'll find a guitar fretboard representation with the notes of the C major scale , using standard guitar tuning: E A D G B E. You can show all notes, only the root notes, the intervals or the scale degrees:

You can also highlight specific scale positions on the guitar fretboard for the C major scale, using the CAGED system or the Three Notes Per String system (TNPS):

Chords in the key of C major
(C major diatonic chords)

The diatonic chords in the key of C major are: C major, D minor, E minor, F major, G major, A minor and B diminished

Tap or use numbers 1 through 7 to trigger the chords. You can also tap to trigger the chord inversions or the 7th chords. This tool can be used as a chord progression generator.

Popular Songs in the Key of C Major

• Imagine by John Lennon
• Another Brick in the Wall by Pink Floyd
• Losing My Religion by R.E.M.
• Changes by Black Sabbath
• Dirty Diana by Michael Jackson
• Heaven by Bryan Adams
• Walking in Memphis by Marc Cohn
• All The Small Things by Blink-182
• Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen

Major scale formula

🔧 The major scales are constructed using this note pattern:

• W-W-H-W-W-W-H

W = Whole step   H = Half step

go to a different major or minor scale:

C^♯ majorD_♭ majorD majorE_♭ majorE majorF majorF^♯ majorG_♭ majorG majorA_♭ majorA majorB_♭ majorB majorC_♭ major

C minor C^♯ minor D_♭ minorD minorD^♯ minorE_♭ minorE minorF minorF^♯ minorG minorG^♯ minorA_♭ minorA minorA^♯ minorB_♭ minorB minor