Guitar Chord Chart & Chord Finder – Fingerings for Any Chord Name
Guitar chord chart and chord finder: type any chord name (Cmaj7, Bm7b5, G/B…) to see guitar chord diagrams from open shapes to barre and high-position voicings. Includes a 36-chord chart and audio playback.
Guitar Chord Chart: Common Chords and How to Play Them
The major, minor and seventh chord for each of the 12 roots, with the two easiest shapes for each. Select a chord name to load it into the finder above and see its diagram or hear it.
| Root | Major | Minor | Seventh |
|---|---|---|---|
| C | |||
| C# | |||
| D | |||
| Eb | |||
| E | |||
| F | |||
| F# | |||
| G | |||
| Ab | |||
| A | |||
| Bb | |||
| B |
The numbers are the frets to press from the 6th string to the 1st; 0 is an open string and x is a string you do not play (for example, C as x32010 means: 6th string muted, 5th string 3rd fret, 4th string 2nd fret, 3rd string open, 2nd string 1st fret, 1st string open).
What Is This Guitar Chord Chart and Chord Finder?
This guitar chord chart works as a chord finder: type a chord name and it shows you how to play it on guitar as a chord diagram. It handles the basics like C and Am, chords with extensions such as Cmaj7, Bm7b5, Dsus4 and Cadd9, and slash chords such as G/B and D/F#. For every chord you get up to eight fingerings, ordered from easiest to hardest — from open-position shapes that use ringing open strings, to full barre chords, to voicings further up the neck.
The fingerings are not looked up from a fixed list. Instead the tool checks every combination of the six strings in standard tuning (E A D G B E from the 6th string) across frets 0 to 15. It keeps only shapes where the lowest note is the root (or the requested bass note for a slash chord), every chord tone is sounded, the fretted notes fit within a three-fret stretch, and four fingers are enough. The survivors are ranked by how many open strings they use, how many fingers they need and how low on the neck they sit. That is why you can still find a fingering for chords that never appear in the chord chart at the back of a method book.
How to Use the Guitar Chord Finder
- Type a chord name Enter something like “Am7”, “F#m” or “Bbmaj7”. Upper- and lower-case M are different: write a major seventh as “maj7” or “M7”, and a minor chord with a lower-case “m”.
- Read the chord diagram The first diagram is the recommended, easiest shape. The 6th string is on the left and the 1st string on the right; press the dots and avoid the strings marked ×.
- Play it back Press “Play” to hear the strings sounded one after another from low to high, like a strum. Compare it with your own playing to check you are fretting every note correctly.
- Pick from the chart Below the tool is a chart of 36 common chords. Select any chord name to load it into the finder and see its diagram and hear it.
Tips for getting more out of it
- If the full barre for F or Bm is still a struggle, try the second shape in the chart — such as xx3211, which leaves the low strings out. It sounds a little lighter but contains exactly the same chord tones.
- Shapes labelled “No 5th” leave out the fifth of the chord, which adds little to its character, so the chord fits under four fingers. Dropping the fifth is completely standard on seventh and ninth chords.
- If you would rather play open shapes in a song’s key, a capo is another option. The capo chart lets you combine the shape you want to use with the capo fret that gets you there.
- To keep × strings silent, lightly touch a low string with the tip of your thumb, or let the pad of a fretting finger rest against a high string. Combine that with aiming your pick and the chord will sound much cleaner.
When the Guitar Chord Chart Comes in Handy
An unfamiliar chord turns up in a song sheet
When a chord sheet or songbook throws something like “C#m7” or “Gsus4” at you, just type it in to see how it is played. The easiest open-position shape is always listed first, so even beginners can try it straight away.
You want to avoid barre chords
For chords such as F or B that usually need a barre, you can compare shapes that skip the low strings or sit in another position, and pick the one that suits both the song and your hand.
You want a different sound for an arrangement
The same chord sounds different in open position and higher up the neck. Higher voicings let a second guitar stay out of the first guitar’s range, or lift the energy in the last chorus.
You are practising slash chords and extended chords
For chords where the bass note or the seventh matters — D/F# or Cmaj7, for example — the note names under each diagram show exactly which string plays which note. If you want to go the other way and name a chord from the notes you hear, use the chord identifier.
Guitar Chord Glossary
- Chord diagram
- A picture of the guitar neck stood upright, with dots showing which fret to press on which string. In this tool the 6th string is drawn on the left and the 1st string on the right.
- Open string
- A string played without pressing any fret, shown as ○ in a diagram and 0 in fret notation. Shapes that use several open strings are called open chords; they are easy to hold and ring out richly.
- Barre chord
- A chord where one finger, usually the index, lies flat across several strings at the same fret. It is needed for chords like F and Bm that cannot be played with open strings.
- Position
- Where your fretting hand sits on the neck. Frets 1–3 are usually called open or low position, and the 5th fret and above high position. The same chord sounds different in each.
- Root
- The note a chord is built on, named by the first letter of the chord symbol. This tool only shows shapes whose lowest note is the root.
- Slash chord
- A chord such as “G/B” where the note after the slash is the bass. You play the chord before the slash while making the specified note the lowest one.
- Voicing
- The way the same chord tones are stacked — which octave each note is in and in what order. On guitar the voicing changes with where you fret, so one chord name can sound noticeably different.
Guitar Chord FAQ
Side Note — Why Guitar Chord Shapes Boil Down to “CAGED”
Most guitarists start with the same five open chords: C, A, G, E and D. Those five have a special role, because any chord anywhere on the neck can be explained as one of these shapes moved up the fretboard. The idea is known as the CAGED system and is used widely in guitar method books and lessons.
Take the open E chord (022100) and move the whole shape up one fret with an index-finger barre, and you get F (133211); move it up another two frets and you get G (355433). In the same way, the A shape (x02220) moved up two frets becomes B (x24442). Adjacent guitar strings are mostly a fourth apart, so sliding a shape along the neck keeps the relationship between the notes intact. You can see this in the chart on this page: the F, F# and Ab rows use the E shape, while the Bb and B rows use the A shape.
There is one exception: the G and B strings are a major third apart instead of a fourth. If all six strings were tuned in fourths, the 6th and 1st strings would end up as E and F, which would make it awkward to strum chords using open strings. Thanks to that single irregular interval, both outer strings are E, and chords like E and Em ring out beautifully with open strings. The price is a quirk unique to the guitar: when you move a shape across the strings, the note on the B string shifts by one fret, which is part of why guitar chord shapes take a while to memorise.