The C & B7 Cords ???

Hi and, before I forget, welcome to Guitar Noise.

Any chord can be played in a number of ways. Typically, though, beginners first learn the C and B7 chords in what's known as "open position," meaning that they use open strings and (again typically) the fingers are fretting somewhere in the first three frets. For C, use the following:

High E string - open
B string - index finger on first fret
G string - open
D string - middle finger on second fret
A string - ring finger on third fret
Low E string - don't play

For B7, use the following:

High E string - pinky on second fret
B string - open
G string - ring finger on second fret
D string - index finger on first fret
A string - middle finger on second fret
Low E string - don't play

It should be noted that there are two other open position possibilities for C. The first is:

High E string - pinky on third fret
B string - index finger on first fret
G string - open
D string - middle finger on second fret
A string - ring finger on third fret
Low E string - don't play

And the second is:

High E string - open
B string - index finger on first fret
G string - open
D string - middle finger on second fret
A string - pinky on third fret
Low E string - ring finger on third fret

As you learn more about the guitar and about barre chords and other chord voicings, you'll find more ways of playing these chords. But for now this should hopefully get you started.

Please feel free to ask questions anytime. There are a lot of helpful people here!

Looking forward to seeing you around on the forums.

Peace

Thanks I am going to stick with one book ID0TS GUIDE to Guitar, it is by far the most Complete how to play book that I have read & I wasted some money on other books before I found out about this one.

I have it drilled into my head Practice Practice Practice & more Practice

Hi again and thanks for the sentiment. But in all seriousness, there are a lot of good guitar books out there and as you learn more and more, you'll hopefully find good books to supplement your studies.

Not to mention websites!

But one of the best things you can do to help yourself get better is to start playing with other people as soon as possible. You'll learn a ton that way.

Looking forward to seeing around here at Guitar Noise.

Peace

Thanks
The frist book I bought (new I thought) after looking at I saw it was put out in 1979. Guess that was the way they played C & B7 back then.
The good part of the book was I learned Music Notation which for me was a good start a 2 part book & no TAB's at all.
that helped me alot. just the cords were old-- that was the bad part.
I do go to some of the local clubs & so far have gotten some advice from Guitar players of what ever band happens to be playing that night. They all start off by saying -- it's never to late to start ! that's cause I just turned 53 so I have no plans of being the next Rock God.

I wonder how many who start playing are still playing after a year ?

The chords don't get old. An open c is the same any decade. The c that you described with the low e played open is still technically a C. It has all the notes in the C chord and nothing extra. The difference is that when it has that open low E played you are playing a C chord with a different root note (E instead of C) the actual name of the chord changes to E over C major or E/C as it is written out on a cheat sheet. I hope all this makes sense.

Yes, but it's the otherThe difference is that when it has that open low E played you are playing a C chord with a different root note (E instead of C) the actual name of the chord changes to E over C major or E/C as it is written out on a cheat sheet. I hope all this makes sense.

Yes, except it's the other way round, it's called a C/E or "C over E" (bass).

An E/C would be an E chord over C bass and wouldn't really sound very good although an Em/C sounds fine (do you know why?)

Oops. Thanks for the correction.

My theory isn't advanced enough to know why Em/C works and E/C doesn't but I did run straight to my guitar to check it out since I've never used either chord.

I used a Dm shape to play Em, muting the fourth string and playing third fret on the fifth string. It's a nice mellow but transient sound. That's Em/C

For E/C I did the same thing only I used a D major shape instead of D minor. The result sounded like a train wreck.

Please enlighten me on the theory behind this. I am curious. If I sat down and worked it all out I'm sure I can figure it out but there are those who might not be able to who are curious too.

Oh, and for anyone else reading this, go ahead and try both chords out and examine the results. The fingerings I used are a bit of a stretch if your not used to it, but it was the easiest I could come up with at a moments notice. Don't be afraid to put theory to the test.

Apparition - The only difference between E/C and Em/ C is the interval between the bass note C and the 3rd of the Em and E major chords, which are G & G# respectively.

C - G (in Em/C) is a very consonant perfect 5th interval.
C -G# (in E/C) is a dissonant augmented 5th.

BTW - The root doesn't change when you play from the low open 6th in a C chord. E is the BASS note, not the ROOT, which is always C whether it's the lowest note or not.

It's also not quite accurate to say that the chord name changes when we put E (or G) in the bass. The chord's name is still C major regardless of how it's arranged. Writing it as C/E is just an instruction to play C major with E in the bass. (1st inversion). It's not actually the chord's name. When it's written just as C, we can play it with C, E or G in the bass (obviously choosing the one that sounds best, which is C in most situations) and it will still be correct to call it C major.

Thank-you for a free lesson in theory :D
looks like I've got a lot of brushing up to do.

I've never been a fan of playing a C chord with an E in the bass:

High E string - open
B string - index finger on first fret
G string - open
D string - middle finger on second fret
A string - ring finger on third fret
Low E string - open (yuck)

Even though they are the same notes of a C chord (C, E, G), that open low E has worked in very few songs for me.

Both are correct however the way I teach chords to my students is I always put the letter name of the chord in the bass to avoid any confusion. Later on when they are learning about inversions, which is the other way to play these chords, then I teach it to them. An inversion is any chord that has a note other than the letter name of the chord in the bass.