C Major Scale, Chords & Songs

C major is where every pianist starts. No sharps, no flats — just the white keys. Its diatonic chords appear in thousands of pop and folk songs, making it the most fluent key for sight-reading and improvisation.

The C Major scale

The C Major scale contains seven notes: C – D – E – F – G – A – B. Key signature: no sharps or flats.

CDEFGABCDEFG

All notes in the C Major scale highlighted on the keyboard.

Diatonic chords in C Major

These seven chords are built on each scale degree. They're the natural chord palette for songs in C Major — most pop progressions like I-V-vi-IV use only these.

RomanChordQualityOpen
ICMajorLearn C
iiDmMinorLearn Dm
iiiEmMinorLearn Em
IVFMajorLearn F
VGMajorLearn G
viAmMinorLearn Am
vii°BdimDiminishedLearn Bdim

Quick facts

Key signature
no sharps or flats
Relative minor
A minor
Difficulty on piano
Beginner — easiest key on piano (all white keys).
Songs in our catalog
2,516 pieces

Popular songs in C Major

2,516 songs total — top picks below.

Explore other keys