C♯ Major / D♭ Major Chord on Guitar

1,008 guitar chords with several shapes each, finger numbers, difficulty and real sound, in any tuning.

C♯ major (also written D♭ major) is a major chord made of 3 notes: C♯, E♯, G♯. It sounds bright, settled and complete, and you hear it in the home chord of countless songs in every style. It is the I chord of D♭ major and turns up in 5 other keys.

The library above opens on C♯ with 14 shapes up and down the neck, starting with hand-checked ones. Tap a shape to hear it, or play it one string at a time.

Notes in C♯

Note	Degree	Interval from C♯	Semitones
C♯	1	root	0
E♯	3	major third	4
G♯	5	perfect fifth	7

Formula: 1 – 3 – 5. On guitar the 5th is often left out of the bigger shapes without changing the chord. With the other spelling, D♭ is D♭, F, A♭: the same sounds under different names.

How to play C♯

A-shape barre at fret 4Mediumx46664

E-shape barre at fret 9Medium9(11)(11)(10)99

Fret 4Beginnerxxx664

Fret 9Beginnerxx(11)(10)9x

Fret 4Easyx4666x

Fret 9Easy9(11)(11)(10)xx

Fret 4 (root on the 5th string), step by step

1st finger (index): 5th string, 4th fret (C♯, the root).
2nd finger (middle): 4th string, 6th fret (G♯, the fifth).
3rd finger (ring): 3rd string, 6th fret (C♯, the root).
4th finger (little): 2nd string, 6th fret (E♯, the major third).
Strum from the 5th string, and keep the 6th string and 1st string quiet (touch the muted string lightly with the finger next to it).

Tips

The fret 4 shape is the one to learn first. Once it is easy, try the shape at the 9th fret (9(11)(11)(10)99): the same chord, higher and brighter, handy when the chords before and after it sit up the neck.

Keys and progressions with C♯

C♯ belongs to 6 keys: I in D♭ major, V in F♯ major, IV in A♭ major, VII in E♭ minor, VI in F minor, III in B♭ minor. In D♭ major, try I–V–vi–IV: C♯ – A♭ – B♭m – G♭.