C Flat 5 Guitar Chord
Voicing Positions (6)
Interval Colors
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C Flat 5 Chord
The C Flat 5 chord is built from the intervals: Root, Major 3rd, and Tritone. It contains the notes C, E, and F#. This is a triad — one of the foundational chord types.
What C Flat 5 Is
The C Flat 5 is a major triad — three notes stacked in a major-third + minor-third pattern. It is the most fundamental and harmonically stable chord in Western music. The major third gives it its bright, open, optimistic character, and the perfect fifth on top reinforces the root. Almost every popular song you have ever heard begins or ends on a major chord of some kind.
How C Flat 5 Sounds
A C Flat 5 sounds open, resolved, and confident. There is nothing pulling against itself in the chord — the major third and perfect fifth reinforce each other, and the chord can sit comfortably as a final resting point. This is part of why the major triad is the most-used chord in popular music — it sounds finished.
How To Use C Flat 5 In A Progression
The most common functions for C Flat 5 are I (tonic) in the key of C, IV (subdominant) in the key a fifth below, and V (dominant) in the key a fifth above. It also appears as bVI and bIII in minor keys, where it provides a sudden brightness against the prevailing minor tonality.
Playing C Flat 5 On Guitar
On guitar, the most common voicings of C Flat 5 use the open position when possible (which is why guitarists tend to favour keys like E, A, D, G, and C) and movable barre or half-barre shapes everywhere else. The voicing diagrams above show several practical positions across the neck — the open or low-fret voicings will sound brightest, while the higher voicings will have a thinner, more focused tone. Always experiment with which fingering serves the line you are playing.
Related Chords
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