The C Chord

And How to Switch from G to C

The three chords you'll learn in these lessons are G, C, and D. You'll already familiar with G as it's your banjo tuned open. Let's take a look at the C chord.

This version of the C chord is one that you'll use when playing roll patterns that exclude the 4th string. When you want to play a roll with the 4th string, you'll need to add your middle finger to the 2nd fret on that string. But for this exercise, you'll only need to put your index and ring fingers down because we're using the alternating thumb roll to practice, as you'll see in the tab below. When switching from a G chord to a C chord, hover your left hand fingers over the frets you want to push down and when it's time to make the chord, simply drop them down behind those frets. Remember that when you're fretting notes you want to put your fingers immediately behind the fret to get the best sound.

The C Chord Video Tutorial

In this tab, you'll practice moving from a G to a C chord but you should also practice moving in the opposite direction, or from C to G. Click on the 2nd measure to highlight and isolate it for your practice.