Guitar Chords
A guitar chords chart for every key: pick a chord, see the shapes with finger numbers, and hear each one strummed.
Keyboard: Space strums the selected shape, ← → step through the shapes. Click any chord box to hear it.
Chord chart
The easiest shape for every major, minor and dominant 7th chord in the current tuning. Tap one to see all its shapes above.
Building the chart…
How to use the guitar chords chart
This guitar chords chart shows any chord in any key as chord boxes: pick a root note and a chord type to see several playable shapes with finger numbers, easiest first, hear each one strummed, and print a one-page chart of the major, minor and 7th chords. Pick a root note (C to B) and a chord type (major, minor, 7, maj7 and so on). The tool shows every playable guitar shape it found for that chord, easiest first, as chord boxes. Press a chord box, or Strum, to hear it; Note by note plays the strings one at a time so you can check each one. The big fretboard under the boxes shows the selected shape with every note named. On a computer, Space strums the selected shape and the left and right arrow keys step through the shapes.
Choose another tuning from the Tuning menu and every shape is worked out again for it. Flat names switches the root buttons from sharps (A#) to flats (Bb). Below the tool is a chart with the first shape of every major, minor and 7th chord. If you want a guitar chord chart printable on a single sheet, press Print chart: it prints only the chart. If you already have a shape under your fingers and want its name, use the guitar chord finder instead.
How guitar tuning shapes the chords
A guitar in standard tuning has six strings, from the thickest to the thinnest: E A D G B E. Each string is a perfect 4th above the one before it, except G to B, which is a major 3rd. That one odd gap is why chord shapes change when they cross from the G string to the B string, and why the same shape does not simply slide across the strings.
Change the tuning and every shape changes with it. Drop D lowers only the low E to D; DADGAD and open G retune several strings. Pick them from the Tuning menu to see the shapes for that tuning. Check your strings first with the guitar tuner: a chord shape only sounds right on a guitar that is in tune.
Reading a guitar chord box
A chord box is a picture of the neck standing up, as if you were looking at the fretboard face on. The vertical lines are the strings, the low E string on the left and the high E string on the right. The thick line at the top is the nut; if the shape sits higher up the neck, a number such as 5fr tells you which fret the top row is. A dot is a fretted note and the number inside it is the finger: 1 index, 2 middle, 3 ring, 4 little finger. A bar across several strings is a barre, one finger pressing them all. A circle above a string means play it open, an x means leave it out. The letters under the box are the notes each string sounds, spelled for the chord (Bb in a Gm chord, not A#).
Every shape on this page is checked by a chord identifier: the notes it sounds must name the chord you picked. When a shape has a note other than the root at the bottom, the name shows it after a slash, for example D/F#.
First guitar chords to learn
Open chords use open strings, so they need fewer fingers and ring out more. These are the shapes this page shows first in standard tuning (strings from low E to high E, x = not played):
| Chord | Shape | Chord | Shape |
|---|---|---|---|
| C | x32010 | Am | x02210 |
| G | 320003 | Em | 022000 |
| D | xx0232 | Dm | xx0231 |
| A | x02220 | E7 | 020100 |
| E | 022100 | A7 | x02020 |
F is the usual first barre chord: 133211, with the index finger across all six strings at the first fret. The same E-shaped barre moved up the neck gives every other major chord; the A-shaped barre (root on the A string) gives a second one. The shapes further down each chord's list show both. If a barre is too hard for now, a capo lets you keep playing open shapes in other keys.
How to practise chord changes
Pick two chords and switch between them slowly, only as fast as you can land every finger at the same time. Look for a finger that stays in place or slides along one string between the two shapes and keep it there: from C (x32010) to Am (x02210) the first and second fingers do not move at all. Strum once per change at first, then four times, then two. Once a pair is smooth, add a third chord. A steady beat from a metronome keeps you honest about the speed. To hear a change before your fingers can make it, hold the two chords on the virtual guitar and strum them in turn.
Press just behind the fret, not on top of it, and keep your fingertips upright so they do not touch the next string. Strum a shape, then pick each string on its own: any note that buzzes or sounds muffled tells you which finger to fix.
More for guitar: Guitar Tuner · Guitar Chord Finder · Guitar Scales · Fretboard Notes · Capo Chart · Virtual Guitar · Guitar Tab Maker · Chord Chart Maker · Online Guitar Amp · Guitar Effects · Online Looper
Questions
How many guitar chords are there?
Each of the 12 root notes can take many chord types. This page covers 16 types (major, minor, 7, maj7, m7, sus2, sus4, dim, aug, 6, m6, 9, add9, m7b5, dim7 and power chords), which is 192 chords, each with several shapes along the neck.
What do the numbers in the dots mean?
They are fingers: 1 index, 2 middle, 3 ring, 4 little finger. The thumb is not numbered on these charts.
Why do some chords have a slash in the name?
A slash chord such as D/F# means the lowest note is not the root. It is still the same chord; the bass note just colours it differently.
Can I print a guitar chord chart?
Yes. Press Print chart under the tool to print the easiest shape of every major, minor and dominant 7th chord in the tuning you have chosen, on one page. To draw shapes of your own, use the chord chart maker.
What is the difference between a guitar chord chart and a chord finder?
A chord chart starts from the name and shows the shapes. The guitar chord finder works the other way: you tap the frets you are holding and it names the chord.