Guide

How to get chord diagrams

Choose a chord quality from the drop down menu. If you were looking for the chord B minor, choose the quality minor from the list. Then use the add chord button. Now with a quality added and chord shapes showing, use the string checkboxes to choose which root string you want the chord shapes for. Advanced settings can be shown with the gear button. Where options are available for note labels and alternate chord controls.

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How to read a chord diagram

All chords are in standard tuning. From the 6th string to the first string, EADGBe. The thickest (lowest pitch) string is the 6th string, the thinnest (highest pitch) string is the 1st string.

The dots on the chord diagrams represent an upright guitar. The fingering placement of the chord is up to you. If you need help, jguitar is an amazing resource for details on chord shapes and a lot else.

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How movable chord shapes work

All chord diagrams on this site are movable chord shapes.

This means you can learn one chord quality shape like the major chord, and you can now play all the major quality for all root notes. Like F#maj, Amaj, or C#maj. For a root string such as the 6th string, you can keep the same shape and move up or down the neck.

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How to be efficient with chord changes distance

While you can learn just one chord shape for one root string, you'll need to move a lot of frets to cover all the root notes. It won't be an efficient use of your movement. A recommended approach is to learn the chord shapes for both 6th and 5th root strings. This will cover whatever root notes you'll need to play in a reasonable fret distance.

In the example below instead of moving 8 frets to play F major and C# major on the 6th string. The two chords can be played moving 1 string and 3 frets.

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Next steps

Once you've learned the chord shapes for the 6th and 5th strings, you've covered the basics. Try out the chord voicings for different strings and see the differences in how they are expressed. The 4th and 1st string chord shapes are common next steps to try. Beyond that, below are other resources I've found useful.