Every chord, one page each
288 chords: 24 chord types on all twelve roots, from plain major and minor triads to the add9, m7b5, dim7 and 13 chords that turn up on song sheets. Each page gives the spelled notes, the interval formula, a piano diagram, guitar shapes and ukulele shapes you can play, the inversions and their names, and where the chord sits in a key, with a button to hear it. Every name and note on these pages comes from the same engine that names what you play on the chord finder, and every guitar and ukulele shape is checked by it before the page is written. The ukulele shapes are for standard G C E A tuning: the easiest shape that sounds only the chord's notes, with its root and its third (or the note that defines a sus or power chord), and a second shape higher up the neck.
Chords in every key: the triads and sevenths of all 24 major and minor keys, and a finder that tells you the key of a song from its chords.
Triads and the power chord
Sixths and sevenths
Half-diminished seventh 1 b3 b5 b7
Minor-major seventh 1 b3 5 7
Ninths, elevenths and thirteenths
The 24 types, shown on C
| Chord | Type | Formula | Semitones | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | major | 1 3 5 | 0 4 7 | C E G |
| Cm | minor | 1 b3 5 | 0 3 7 | C Eb G |
| C7 | dominant seventh | 1 3 5 b7 | 0 4 7 10 | C E G Bb |
| Cmaj7 | major seventh | 1 3 5 7 | 0 4 7 11 | C E G B |
| Cm7 | minor seventh | 1 b3 5 b7 | 0 3 7 10 | C Eb G Bb |
| Cdim | diminished | 1 b3 b5 | 0 3 6 | C Eb Gb |
| Caug | augmented | 1 3 #5 | 0 4 8 | C E G# |
| Csus2 | suspended second | 1 2 5 | 0 2 7 | C D G |
| Csus4 | suspended fourth | 1 4 5 | 0 5 7 | C F G |
| Cadd9 | major add nine | 1 3 5 9 | 0 4 7 14 | C E G D |
| C6 | major sixth | 1 3 5 6 | 0 4 7 9 | C E G A |
| Cm6 | minor sixth | 1 b3 5 6 | 0 3 7 9 | C Eb G A |
| C9 | dominant ninth | 1 3 5 b7 9 | 0 4 7 10 14 | C E G Bb D |
| Cm9 | minor ninth | 1 b3 5 b7 9 | 0 3 7 10 14 | C Eb G Bb D |
| Cmaj9 | major ninth | 1 3 5 7 9 | 0 4 7 11 14 | C E G B D |
| C11 | dominant eleventh | 1 3 5 b7 9 11 | 0 4 7 10 14 17 | C E G Bb D F |
| C13 | dominant thirteenth | 1 3 5 b7 9 11 13 | 0 4 7 10 14 17 21 | C E G Bb D F A |
| C7sus4 | seventh suspended fourth | 1 4 5 b7 | 0 5 7 10 | C F G Bb |
| Cm7b5 | half-diminished seventh | 1 b3 b5 b7 | 0 3 6 10 | C Eb Gb Bb |
| Cdim7 | diminished seventh | 1 b3 b5 bb7 | 0 3 6 9 | C Eb Gb Bbb |
| Cm(maj7) | minor-major seventh | 1 b3 5 7 | 0 3 7 11 | C Eb G B |
| C5 | power | 1 5 | 0 7 | C G |
| C7b9 | dominant seventh flat nine | 1 3 5 b7 b9 | 0 4 7 10 13 | C E G Bb Db |
| C7#9 | dominant seventh sharp nine | 1 3 5 b7 #9 | 0 4 7 10 15 | C E G Bb D# |
The formula counts scale steps of the major scale on the root: 3 is the major third, b3 a minor third, b7 the minor seventh, #5 a raised fifth, bb7 a diminished seventh. 9, 11 and 13 are the second, fourth and sixth an octave higher, so their semitone counts go past 12. To build any of these chords on another root, count the same semitones up from it.
Why C#m but Db
A black-key root has two names. The engine spells each chord from the root name whose notes need the fewest sharps and flats, one letter per chord tone. On a black key the winner can change from one type to the next on the same root: Db, Db7, Dbmaj7, Dbaug, Dbsus2, Dbsus4, Dbadd9, Db6, Db9, Dbmaj9, Db11, Db13, Dbm(maj7), Db7#9 but C#m, C#m7, C#dim, C#m6, C#m9, C#7sus4, C#m7b5, C#dim7, C#5, C#7b9; F#, F#m, F#7, F#m7, F#dim, F#sus2, F#sus4, F#add9, F#6, F#m6, F#9, F#m9, F#11, F#13, F#7sus4, F#m7b5, F#dim7, F#m(maj7), F#5, F#7b9 but Gbmaj7, Gbaug, Gbmaj9, Gb7#9. The other spelling is shown on each page, for example C#m is also written Dbm (Db Fb Ab): the same keys, harder to read.
Finding the barre shapes
The guitar diagrams use two families of movable grips plus the standard open shapes. For an E-shape chord, put the root on the low E string; for an A-shape chord, on the A string. The fret for each root:
| Root | C | Db | D | Eb | E | F | F# | G | Ab | A | Bb | B |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| E-shape fret | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| A-shape fret | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
Fret 0 is the open E or A chord. Some grips (the add9, 6, m6, 9, m9, maj9, m7b5, dim7, 7b9, 7#9 shapes) reach a fret or two below the root; on roots where that would fall behind the nut, the page shows the same grip twelve frets higher. Sus2 has no comfortable E-shape grip within four frets, so its pages show the A-shape and, on D, the open shape.
What these pages do not cover
- Only the 24 types above. 6/9, m(add9), m11, 7#5, m13, maj13, 7#11, 7b5, 7b13, maj7#5, add11, m(add11), maj7#11 chords are named by the chord finder but do not have pages yet.
- Guitar shapes are for standard tuning only, and each page shows at most three grips, not every voicing on the neck. A guitar has six strings and a 13 chord seven notes, so the 9, 11 and 13 shapes leave out the tones players usually drop (the fifth; the third and fifth of an 11; the fifth, ninth and eleventh of a 13), and only those.
- Ukulele shapes are for standard re-entrant G C E A tuning (high G), all four strings strummed, within a four-fret stretch. Gbmaj9, G#m9, Bb5, B5 have no such shape below the 12th fret, so their pages show one at frets 10 to 14, which needs a ukulele with more than 12 frets. Low-G and baritone (D G B E) ukuleles need different shapes, which are not shown. A four-string shape of a 9, 11 or 13 chord leaves out the fifth, and for 11 and 13 the tones players drop anyway; each shape says which note is missing.
- The sound is a simple synthesised tone made in your browser, not a recorded piano or guitar.