All notes in C are not created equal. Play them one by one against a simple C chord and resolve them. Here’s what you might find:

C sounds fine as it is.
D wants to resolve either down to a C, or up to E.
E sounds fine.
F wants to go down to E.
G sounds fine.
A wants to go down to G.
B wants to go up to C.

Is that how you hear it?

If you change the chord a bit you alter how the notes feel against the chord. E.g., make the chord C∆ and a B played against it will lose a bit of its urgency to resolve up to C. And a high C might sound not so fine now.

How do you hear that?