How to read this guide

Every description on this site follows one strict grammar. Spend five minutes here and every chord page will read the same way, every time, with no ambiguity. This page is the contract; the rest of the site keeps it.

The strings

A guitar in standard tuning has six strings. The 1st string is the thinnest and highest in pitch; the 6th string is the thickest and lowest in pitch. So counting goes from the floor toward the ceiling when you hold the guitar normally: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th.

The strings are tuned, from 6th to 1st: E, A, D, G, B, E. Because two strings are both E, this site calls the 6th string low E and the 1st string high E, where low and high mean pitch. By default, descriptions give both forms at once, for example: 5th string (A). You can switch to numbers only or note names only on the Settings page.

The frets

Frets are numbered from the nut. The 1st fret is closest to the nut and the tuning pegs; higher fret numbers are closer to the guitar's body. A higher fret always sounds a higher pitch on the same string. Each fret is one semitone. Pressing a string at the 3rd fret means pressing between the 2nd and 3rd fret wires, in the space right behind the 3rd wire. An open string is played without pressing any fret.

The fingers

Fretting-hand fingers are always called by name: index, middle, ring, and pinky, plus occasionally the thumb. This site never numbers fingers, so a number can only ever mean a string or a fret.

Words for pitch and direction

The words higher and lower always mean pitch, never a physical direction. This site never says up, or the word that is its opposite, about strings, frets, or hands, because on a guitar those words can mean two contradictory things. If a description says one string is higher than another, it sounds higher. If a fret is two frets higher, it is two frets toward the body and sounds two semitones higher.

Muted strings

If a string should not sound, the description says so outright: do not play. Nothing is ever implied. Sometimes you simply avoid hitting that string; often you let a fretting finger touch it lightly so it stays silent even if your pick catches it. Individual chords mention helpful muting tricks in their tips.

Strumming guidance

Each chord ends with one strumming line. Strum from the 5th string means: start your strum at the 5th string and sweep across the thinner strings, ending at the 1st. Play only, followed by a list of strings, means exactly those strings sound and their neighbors stay silent.

Sharps and flats

Sharps and flats are always spelled out in words: F sharp, B flat. A sharp raises a note by one semitone, a flat lowers it by one. F sharp and G flat are the same pitch with two names.

Movable shapes and the root fret

Power chords and triads are taught as movable shapes. A movable shape is one grip you learn once and slide along the neck. Every movable shape has an anchor note called the root, on a named string. The fret where you place the root is called the root fret, and all other notes are described relative to it, for example: two frets higher than the root fret. Put the root on G and you have a G chord; slide the same grip two frets higher and you have an A chord. Each shape page includes worked examples at concrete frets so you can check yourself.

One caution, because the word root is doing two jobs here. The root fret names a position on the neck, a fret number, and nothing more. Only the root's own string sounds the root note there. Another string held at that same fret sounds a different note, because each string is tuned differently: at the 5th fret, the 3rd string gives C while the 2nd string gives E. To keep this unmistakable, every fretted line in a movable shape ends by naming the chord tone that string actually sounds: the root, the third, or the fifth. In an octave doubling, the line says so, for example: the root again, an octave higher.

Barre chords

In a barre chord, one finger, almost always the index, presses several strings at the same fret at once, like a movable version of the nut. Descriptions state the barre first, in full: how many strings, from which string through which, with which finger, at which fret. For example: Barre all six strings, from the 6th string (low E) through the 1st string (high E), with your index finger, at the 1st fret. After that, strings held by the barre say so in their own lines with the words: covered by the barre. Fingers pressing additional notes are described as usual.

How to move around these pages

Headings are the map. Every page has one level 1 heading with the page title. Level 2 headings are groups, such as Major chords or Minor chords. Level 3 headings are the chords and shapes themselves, one heading per chord, on every page of this site. Level 4 headings mark the examples inside movable shapes. So with a screen reader, pressing the key for level 3 headings walks you chord by chord, and the heading list gives you the whole page at a glance.

Near the beginning of each chord page there is a table of contents: a plain list of links, one per chord, announced with its length. Each chord description is itself a list with one line per string, so you can arrow through it a line at a time while holding the guitar, and re-read any single line without starting over.

The tuner

The Tuner page listens through your microphone and speaks this site's grammar back to you. A cent is one hundredth of a semitone. Readings round to the nearest five cents, and anything within five cents counts as in tune. Too low means tune higher; too high means tune lower. A full reading sounds like: 6th string (low E). About 15 cents too low. Tune higher. The tuner speaks only when a note has settled and the reading has changed, and stays silent while nothing is playing. The Mute announcements button stops all automatic speech; the current reading remains on the page as plain text you read on demand. Microphones need a secure connection, so use the tuner on the live site rather than a copy opened from disk.

Settings

The Settings page changes how every description is written: the format of descriptions and how strings are named. Settings are saved in your browser on this device and apply to the whole site immediately.