Guitar chord finder

How to use the chord finder

1. The columns are the strings (E A D G B E), from the lowest on the left. The top row sets a string to open (○) or muted (×).
2. Tap a fret on a string to press it; tap it again to mute the string. Only one fret per string, as on the real instrument.
3. The names appear as you tap. The best match is first, other valid names follow; each one links to its chord page.
4. Press Strum to hear the shape, or pick one of the example shapes to see how it works.

How the names are ranked

The finder collects the notes you play, ignoring octaves, and tests every root and every chord type we know against them. A name is valid when all your notes belong to the chord and only optional notes, such as the fifth of a seventh chord, are missing.

Valid names are then sorted: common chord types first (major before minor before seventh chords, and so on), names that need a missing note lower, and names whose root is not the lowest note last. That is why the same notes are called C6 first and Am7 second when C is in the bass.

Why one shape can have several names

Chord names describe the notes, not the shape. C–E–G–A is a C6 chord, but the same four notes are also an A minor seventh. Which name is right depends on the bass and on the song: if the bass plays A, call it Am7. When the lowest note is not the root, the finder writes a slash chord, such as C/E.

On guitar the lowest string you play is usually the bass, so a muted low E string changes the name. Mute the strings you do not strum, exactly as you would play the chord.

When there is no name

With fewer than two different notes there is no chord, so the finder asks for more. Two notes a fifth apart are named as a power chord; any other pair is shown with its interval.

Clusters and unusual voicings may match no chord type at all. Then the finder lists your notes and their intervals above the bass, so you can still see what you are playing.