Chord Finder
Tap notes on the keyboard or type them, and the chord finder names the chord, spells it, and lists every other name that fits. Or pick a chord and see its notes.
Other names for these notes
Intervals from the bass
Keyboard: Space plays the chord, A plays it as an arpeggio, Backspace clears. The address bar keeps the notes, so you can copy the link to share the chord.
How to use the chord finder
This chord finder is a chord namer for any set of notes: tap the keys on the piano or type the note names, and it shows the chord name, the notes spelled correctly, the inversion and every other name that fits, or works backwards from a chord name to its notes. To use the chord finder, choose Name a chord and tap keys on the piano to add notes, and tap a key again to take it away. The name appears above the keys as soon as you have three notes, with the notes spelled the way a musician writes them, the chord type in words, and the inversion if the lowest note is not the root. The lowest note counts as the bass. With the twelve note buttons under the keys, the first note you tap becomes the bass.
To type instead, write notes in the box, such as Eb G Bb or C4 E4 G4 Bb4, and press Show. A chord symbol such as Cmaj7 or F#m7b5 works too and shows its notes. In Find the notes, pick a root, a chord type and a bass note, and the keys light up and play.
Play sounds the chord and Arpeggio plays it one note at a time, lowest first. On a computer, Space plays the chord, A plays the arpeggio and Backspace clears the keys. The page address keeps the notes, so you can copy it to send someone the exact chord. To play freely with sound, open the online piano; for guitar shapes, use the guitar chord finder.
How a chord name is built
A chord symbol is read from left to right. First comes the root, the note the chord is built on: C, F#, Bb. Then the quality: nothing for major, m for minor, dim for diminished, aug for augmented, sus2 or sus4 when the 3rd is replaced by the 2nd or 4th. A number adds a 7th or an extension: C7 adds a minor 7th (Bb), Cmaj7 a major 7th (B), C9 a 9th on top of the 7th, Cadd9 a 9th with no 7th. Last, a slash names a bass note other than the root: C/E is a C major chord with E at the bottom.
The notes are spelled by their place in the chord, not by the nearest black key. The 3rd of an Eb chord is G and its 5th is Bb, so Eb major is Eb G Bb, not D# G A#. In C diminished 7th the 7th is Bbb (B double flat), which sounds like A.
Why one set of notes can have two names
Hold C, E, G and A and you have two correct names. Read from C, the notes are a C major chord with an added 6th: C6. Read from A, they are A, C, E and G: Am7, a minor 7th chord, here with C in the bass, written Am7/C. Both are true; in a song, the bass and the chord's job decide.
The finder ranks every name that fits. First it prefers a name whose root is the lowest note you hold, so C E G A with C at the bottom reads C6, and A C E G with A at the bottom reads Am7. Then it prefers the simpler chord type, and then the name that leaves out fewer notes. The best name is shown large; the others are listed under Other names for these notes, and tapping one shows its spelling and formula. Chords that are symmetrical have many equal names: a diminished 7th chord can be named from any of its four notes, so the bass decides.
Some notes can be left out without changing the name. The 5th is the usual one: C, E and Bb is still C7, and the finder says no 5th.
Chord formulas
A formula lists each note of the chord as a step of the major scale on its root: 1 is the root, 3 the major 3rd, b3 the minor 3rd, b7 the minor 7th, and 9 is the 2nd an octave up. Here are the common chord types on C. For any other root, pick it in Find the notes, which works as a chord calculator: choose a root and a type and it lists the notes.
| Symbol on C | Chord type | Formula | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| C | major | 1 3 5 | C E G |
| Cm | minor | 1 b3 5 | C Eb G |
| Cdim | diminished | 1 b3 b5 | C Eb Gb |
| Caug | augmented | 1 3 #5 | C E G# |
| Csus2 | suspended 2nd | 1 2 5 | C D G |
| Csus4 | suspended 4th | 1 4 5 | C F G |
| C5 | power chord | 1 5 | C G |
| C6 | major 6th | 1 3 5 6 | C E G A |
| C7 | dominant 7th | 1 3 5 b7 | C E G Bb |
| Cmaj7 | major 7th | 1 3 5 7 | C E G B |
| Cm7 | minor 7th | 1 b3 5 b7 | C Eb G Bb |
| Cm7b5 | half-diminished | 1 b3 b5 b7 | C Eb Gb Bb |
| Cdim7 | diminished 7th | 1 b3 b5 bb7 | C Eb Gb Bbb |
| Cadd9 | added 9th | 1 3 5 9 | C E G D |
| C9 | dominant 9th | 1 3 5 b7 9 | C E G Bb D |
| C13 | dominant 13th | 1 3 5 b7 9 13 | C E G Bb D A |
For the shapes of these chords on the keys, see piano chords. To hear them in a sequence, try the chord progression generator.
Reading the intervals
Under the keyboard, Intervals from the bass lists each note with its distance from the lowest note, such as major 3rd or perfect 5th. When no name fits, look for two notes a semitone apart: often one of them is a wrong key.
More for piano: Online Piano · Piano Chords · Piano Scales · Treble Clef Notes · Bass Clef Notes
Questions
How do I find out what chord I am playing?
Tap the same notes on the keyboard above, or type their names in the box (for example D F# A C). This piano chord finder shows the name and the notes. For guitar, use the guitar chord finder and tap the frets you hold.
What is the difference between a chord finder and a chord identifier?
They are two names for the same job: you give the notes and it gives the chord name. This page also works the other way round: pick a chord and it shows the notes.
Why does it say C/E instead of C?
The slash means the lowest note is E, not C. C/E is a C major chord in first inversion. The notes are the same as C major; only the bass is different.
Does the order of the notes matter?
Only the lowest note matters, because it is the bass and decides the inversion. The order of the other notes and the octave they are in do not change the name.
Why is a note shown as a double flat?
Notes are spelled by their place in the chord. In C diminished 7th the 7th has to be a kind of B, and the one that fits is B double flat (Bbb), which sounds the same as A.