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{|class="wikitable"
|-
! Chord Type !! 1st Interval !! 2nd Interval!! Written short name for C
|-
| Major || Major 3rd || Perfect 5th|| C
|-
| Minor || Minor 3rd || Perfect 5th|| Cm
|-
| Diminished || Minor 3rd || Diminished 5th|| Cdim or C°
|-
| Augmented || Major 3rd || Augmented 5th|| C+
|}
A basic major chord is root, major third, and perfect fifth. For a C Major chord, that's C - E and C - G. The C Major chord is spelled CEG or C E G or C - E - G.
Often, a chord spans more than one octave, reusing the same set of notes in a higher octave. For example, C2 E2 G2 C3 E3 is 5 notes, but all 5 notes are found in the C major triad. This is still a C Major chord.
Notice a triad is basically every other note from the root. A C Major triad is CEG. We skip the D and F - C (D) E (F) G. This is helpful to quickly get the notes for a particular chord in the key of C Major. As we learn more about other keys and get more accustomed to the intervalic relationship between each pair of notes in the chromatic scale, we will be able to derive the member notes for any particular chord quickly.
== Writing Conventions ==
Usually the short name in the far right column in the table above is used to denote a chord. Chord symbols typically appear above sheet music or tab as follows: C Am F C e-0----|0----|1----|0----| b-1----|1----|1----|1----| g-0----|2----|2----|0----| d-2----|2----|3----|2----|Cm a-3----|0----|-----|3----|Cdim e------|-----|-----|-----| Here the tab shows how to play each chord. Sometimes tab or sheet music will give chord charts for all of the chord shapes used in the song before the song starts. For the above example, you'd see: C+ Am F |o|-|-|-| |o|-|-|-| |-|i|-|-| |-|i|-|-| |-|i|-|-| |-|i|-|-| |o|-|-|-| |-|-|r|-| |-|-|m|-| |-|-|m|-| |-|-|m|-| |-|-|-|r| |-|-|-|r| |o|-|-|-| |-|-|-|-| |-|-|-|-| |-|-|-|-| |-|-|-|-| 0 1 2 3 0 1 2 3 0 1 2 3 This tells us the position of the chords, and the fingering to use. These are often very helpful, as every chord has a large variety of voicings on guitar. Sometimes, the tab/sheet music will not have numbers or notes as we typically see but a strumming pattern. This may be above the tab/sheet music, with the actual tab being reserved for a melody line. It contains markings that look similar to notes, indicating the duration of each strum (quarter note, eighth note, etc.).
== Inversions ==
Another reason to use inversions is if you want your bass line to consistently ascend or descend or have a melody you want it to follow. If you stick to making the bass note the root note of the chord, many chord progressions will not allow the bass line to do so.
=== Writing Inversions ===
The most common way to see inversions written for guitar is the name of the chord, then "/bass note". So for example, C Major 1st Inversion is written C/E. A Minor 2nd Inversion is written Am/E.
== Open Position C Major Chord ==