C5 — C power chord chord
Root and fifth only. The third is left out, so the chord is neither major nor minor and the same shape works over either.
- 1 = C
- 5 = G
- Symbol
- C5
- Root
- C
- Quality
- Power chord
- Family
- triad
- Notes
- C G
- Degree formula
1 5- Semitones from the root
0 7- Distinct pitch classes
- 2
- Interval structure
- Stacked from the root: 7 semitones
- Notation
- Written 5. Two notes, usually doubled at the octave on the lowest strings, and the standard shape of distorted rock rhythm playing.
- Key
- C · C major / A minor key signature
Formula
The chord tones in order from the root, with the interval each one forms above it.
| Degree | Note | Semitones | Interval from the root |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | C | 0 | Perfect unison |
| 5 | G | 7 | Perfect fifth |
Inversions
An inversion is the same set of notes with a different one in the bass. The last column gives the distance of each note above the bass note, in semitones.
| Inversion | Bass note | Degree in the bass | Notes above the bass | Semitones above the bass |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| root position | C | 1 | C – G | 0 7 |
| first inversion | G | 5 | G – C | 0 5 |
Playable voicings
These shapes were found by searching the fretboard of a standard-tuned guitar (E A D G B E) rather than copied from a chord book. The search allows every string to sound or to be muted, rejects any shape with a muted string between two sounding strings, rejects any shape whose fretted notes span more than four frets (a five-fret window), requires every chord tone to be present, and then sorts what remains with root-position shapes first and the most compact, lowest shapes next. The shapes shown are the first six of that ordering; other orderings are possible at the same frets.
| # | Shape (low string first) | Notes | Degrees | Bass | Span (frets) | Sounding strings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 8-10-10-12-8-8 | C G C G G C | 1 5 1 5 5 1 | C | 4 | 6 |
| 2 | x-3-5-5-1-3 | x C G C C G | x 1 5 1 1 5 | C | 4 | 5 |
| 3 | 8-10-10-12-8-x | C G C G G x | 1 5 1 5 5 x | C | 4 | 5 |
| 4 | x-3-5-5-1-x | x C G C C x | x 1 5 1 1 x | C | 4 | 4 |
| 5 | x-x-10-12-8-8 | x x C G G C | x x 1 5 5 1 | C | 4 | 4 |
| 6 | 8-10-10-12-x-x | C G C G x x | 1 5 1 5 x x | C | 4 | 4 |
Shape numbers run from the lowest string to the highest, so the left-hand number is the sixth string (low E) in standard tuning. Multiple shapes are listed because a chord can be voiced several ways, and because a lower position is not always the better sounding one.
Related chords and scales
- KeyEverything in C
- ScaleC major pentatonic
- ChordC
- ChordC7
Related
- KeyKey of C
- ScaleC major pentatonic
- ChordC — Major
- ChordC7 — Dominant seventh
- ChordCaug — Augmented
- ChordCdim — Diminished
- ChordCm — Minor
- DegreesC — degree map