Open C chords: 5 shapes you need to know

Arms outstretched, John Rzeznik of Goo Goo Dolls works the crowd with an Ibanez acoustic.

We continue our series in open tunings with another ‘C’ tuning, but this is different to open Csus2 because the strings are tuned to a major chord, not a suspended sound – and that changes the character.

To get into open C from standard tuning, adjust the fifth and fourth strings down a tone, tune the sixth string down two tones, and raise the second string up a semitone.