Guitar Chord Library

Each chord diagram shows six vertical lines (the strings, low E on the left, high E on the right) and horizontal lines (the frets). A number on a string tells you which fret to press. A 0 means play the open string. An X above the diagram means do not play that string at all. The library covers the 12 root notes and 13 chord types: Major, Minor, 7, Maj7, Min7, Sus2, Sus4, Dim, Aug, Add9, 6, m6 and Power.

The notes ringing out from a basic C Major shape are C, E and G, which are the 1st, 3rd and 5th of the C major scale. Almost every chord chart on the internet uses this notation, so once you can read it here you can read it anywhere. The library shows multiple voicings for each chord where they exist, including open shapes and barre shapes higher up the neck.

Open voicings use one or more open strings and only work in specific keys (mainly C, D, E, G and A and their minor counterparts). Barre voicings use one finger across multiple strings and can be moved up and down the neck to play any chord. The library shows both where they exist, so a beginner can grab the easiest open shape and an intermediate player can pick a barre shape that fits their fingerpicking pattern.

When to pick which: open voicings sound brighter and ring more, but they are limited to certain keys. Barre voicings sound thicker and let you play any chord by sliding the same shape, but they take weeks of practice before they ring cleanly. Most songs sound best with a mix of the two. If you are struggling with the F barre chord, try the F shape on the 5th fret of the A string, which uses an easier root-position barre. The [scale finder](/scale-finder) shows you which notes from each chord live in the scale of your song's key.

Once you know which notes each chord type contains, substitution becomes simple. Replace a Major chord with Maj7 to add jazzy colour. Swap a Major for a Sus2 or Sus4 to add tension that resolves. Swap any chord for its relative minor (or vice versa) for a moodier feel. Power chords (just root and 5th) are interchangeable with both major and minor chords, which is why rock guitarists default to them when they want to ride between feels.

Common pop substitutions worth memorising: I-V-vi-IV (the four chords in everything from Let It Be to Don't Stop Believin') sounds different if you swap the IV for a IVmaj7 or the V for a Vsus4 resolving to V. Try the same progression in C with and without these tweaks and the difference is obvious. The [music theory reference](/music-theory) explains the Roman numeral system and the rules of substitution in more depth.

Each chord type has a one-line tip describing its emotional character. Bright, dark, jazzy, bluesy, mysterious, dreamy, soulful. These descriptions are not arbitrary; they come from how the intervals within the chord interact with the human ear. A Major chord has a clean 3rd-5th relationship (a perfect fifth) which the brain hears as resolved. A Diminished chord has two stacked minor 3rds, which sounds unstable.

Use the tips when you are writing or arranging. If a section feels too cheerful for the lyric, swap a Major chord for a Minor or a Sus4. If a song feels static, drop a Maj7 in to add forward motion. If a chorus feels flat, an Aug chord in the lead-in to the next section pushes the listener into it. You do not need to memorise theory to use this; just read the tip and try it.