The chord finder could not start. The eight beginner charts below still work.
The chord picture needs JavaScript. The eight beginner charts below still work.
My guitar teacher would start our lessons with something like this:
"Let's jam a little. I'll play some blues in A. You take the lead."
Sounds fun, right?
Except I knew what was about to happen.
I'd start playing the A pentatonic scale. Maybe move up and down the pattern a few times. Maybe stay on two strings because those were the notes I knew best.
Then I'd do it again.
I could play the scale. I'd spent plenty of time learning the shapes.
But making up a solo?
That was a whole different thing.
Sometimes I'd hit a note that sounded good and hold it for a second.
Other times I'd hit a note that sounded a little off.
And that's where I'd get stuck.
Should I hold that note? Move up one? Move down? Go back to where I started?
I could hear that something wasn't quite right. I just didn't know what to do about it.
Meanwhile, my teacher could play a handful of notes and make them sound great.
I wanted to know what he knew.
I'd go home and watch guitar lessons on YouTube.
I'd find someone playing a blues solo I loved, or showing how a great rock guitarist played a certain lick.
I'd think, "That's it! That's what I want to learn!"
Then the lesson would start.
"First, we'll play this triad. Then we'll move to the 5th, hold that note, and come back to the root before moving into the pentatonic..."
Wait.
The what?
I knew some of those words. I'd practiced my scales. I was learning my chords.
But when the teacher started moving around the guitar neck, I couldn't always follow what was happening.
Where was that 5th he was talking about?
How did he know which scale shape to use with that chord?
And how did he move between them so easily?
I'd stop the video. Back it up. Watch his fingers. Try to find the same notes on my guitar.
Sometimes I'd figure it out.
Other times I'd get lost.
The videos that sounded the best often seemed to be the hardest ones for me to follow.
"Think of the chord first. Then play the scale around it."
One teacher after another seemed to say some version of this.
And when I listened to the way they played, I started hearing the difference.
They weren't just moving up and down a scale.
They knew which notes belonged to the chord underneath the solo.
They'd land on the root. Or the 3rd. Or the 5th.
They'd hold a note, move away from it, and come back.
They could move from one chord shape to another and use the scales around each one.
It made me want to understand what they were seeing when they looked at their guitars.
Because I was looking at the same six strings and the same frets.
I just wasn't seeing the same things.
I could look at a chord chart and find where to put my fingers.
I could look at a scale chart and see a pattern of notes.
But I wanted to see them together.
Not on two different pages.
Not after trying five different scale patterns in my head to find the one that fit.
I wanted to pick a chord shape, see the root, 3rd, and 5th, and then see the pentatonic pattern around it.
Right there on the same guitar neck.
Something I could look at for a few seconds, then try on my real guitar.
So I started searching.
I looked through chord charts and scale diagrams. I downloaded guitar apps. I tried to find a quick, simple way to put those two things together.
I couldn't find one that worked the way I wanted.
Maybe it was out there.
But after searching and trying all those apps, I decided to build my own.
I'm in my 40s, and I've only been learning guitar for about a year.
I built this Chord Finder because I needed help seeing what I was trying to learn.
And I still remember the first real test.
I picked A major.
Then I moved to the 5th fret, where I'd been practicing my scale shapes.
I chose the A major triad played on the D, G, and B strings.
Three notes. A simple little chord shape.
Then I tapped Pentatonic.
And there it was.
The pentatonic pattern appeared right under the chord shape.
The chord notes were still marked. I could see the root, the 3rd, and the 5th. And I could see the scale pattern that went with them.
I knew that scale pattern!
I'd practiced it before.
But this time I could see where the chord sat inside it.
I remember thinking, "THIS is exactly what I needed to see!"
For the first time, I didn't have to guess which scale pattern fit around that triad.
I had a map.
And I could take that picture in my head right back to my guitar.
Think of a guitar chord you already know.
Maybe it's A, C, D, E, or G.
Find that chord in the Chord Finder.
You'll see where to put your fingers. You'll also see the names of the notes and which ones are the root, 3rd, and 5th.
Those little details matter.
The root tells you the name of the chord. The 3rd helps give it that major or minor sound. And the 5th is another note that helps build the chord.
Now, if you're ready to explore a little more, tap Pentatonic.
Watch what happens.
A scale pattern appears on the same guitar neck, with your chord still marked.
Try playing a few notes from that pattern.
Then come back to one of the chord notes.
Try ending on the root.
Then try the 3rd.
Then the 5th.
Listen.
Do they feel different when you stop on them?
Does one make you want to keep playing?
That's part of what I've been learning to hear in my own solos.
You don't have to know every scale. You don't have to play fast. You don't even need to understand all the music theory yet.
Start with one chord and see what you can find around it.
Maybe you're brand new to guitar.
You've found a chord in a song you want to play, but you're staring at a diagram trying to work out where your fingers belong.
Start there.
The Chord Finder shows which fingers to use for each shape.
Maybe you've been playing chords for a while, and now you're wondering why they sound the way they do.
Look at the note names. Look at the root, 3rd, and 5th.
Try finding another way to play the same chord higher up the neck.
Or maybe you're like me.
You know a few scales. You want to play blues, rock, jazz, or your favorite guitar solos. But every time you try to make up something of your own, you fall back on the same familiar notes.
Pick a triad. Turn on Pentatonic. See how they fit.
Then put the screen aside and try it on your guitar.
The more I practice this way, the easier it gets to find a triad, see the pentatonic pattern around it, and move to another spot on the neck.
I still get lost sometimes. I still have a lot to learn.
But I spend less time trying to work out where the notes are and more time playing with them.
And that's made practicing a whole lot more fun.
So pick a chord you know. Tap Pentatonic. And see if you notice something you hadn't seen before.
That's how this whole thing started for me.
These are eight beginner guitar chords: C major, G major, D major, E minor, A minor, E major, A major, and F major. Start with C major, then use the picture and the list under each one.
Tune to standard tuning first: E A D G B E, thickest string to thinnest.
On a right-handed guitar, your left hand makes the shape. If you play left-handed, the picture is flipped.
Each chord is a name, then a picture, then words if the picture is not enough.
Major chords sound brighter. Minor chords sound sadder. The list under the picture is the exact grip.
Short code x32010, thickest string first.
Open the C major page.
Short code 320003, thickest string first.
Open the G major page.
Short code xx0232, thickest string first.
Open the D major page.
Short code 022000, thickest string first.
Open the E minor page.
Short code x02210, thickest string first.
Open the A minor page.
Short code 022100, thickest string first.
Open the E major page.
Short code x02220, thickest string first.
Open the A major page.
Short code 133211, thickest string first.
Barre fret 1 with the index finger on the low E, B and high E strings.
Open the F major page.
How to read a guitar chord chart. All chords by starting note.
GuitarChords.net