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What Chord Am I Playing?

The web is full of guitar chord apps.
Here are a couple that I have found to be especially resourceful:


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    1. JD
      March 5th, 2009 at 08:39 | #1

      I just wanted to let you know that this is the most useful thing I have found on the internet since I can remember! What a great little invention for disorganized people like myself!
      Thank you! :)

    2. March 6th, 2009 at 15:19 | #2

      Hey JD… I have to agree! This little widget has allowed me to finally write the chord names for the tab sheets I have been playing off of for many years! Thanks – Enjoy!

    3. Mark Stradling
      March 10th, 2009 at 19:56 | #3

      This is really useful! Thanks so much for doing this.

    4. ChiltonTurbo
      July 16th, 2009 at 13:40 | #4

      Brilliant. This is sooooooo useful. Does anyone know of one like this for the ukulele??? I would be extremely grateful.

    5. Josh
      August 21st, 2009 at 14:40 | #5

      awesome…simply awesome!

    6. December 18th, 2009 at 14:23 | #6

      wow! this is so handy! thank you

    7. Roe Osborn
      February 17th, 2010 at 08:28 | #7

      Aaug5!!! Thanks!!!

    8. February 17th, 2010 at 11:59 | #8

      You are welcome! (Cool chord by the way…) -GuitarDaddy

    9. reece
      February 25th, 2010 at 06:32 | #9

      thank you! thank you! thank you!

      this is perfect!

    10. Nick
      March 10th, 2010 at 05:40 | #10

      Clever and useful piece of software but can I clarify one thing – where is the chord name supposed to be displayed ? If I key in what I know to be D Major, D appears at the top, to the side of the neck diagram but if I key in A major, A appears at the bottom ? It’s obviously ok for chords that I know but if I put in a chord shape I don’t know the name of, where do I read the chord name ?

    11. March 15th, 2010 at 21:11 | #11

      Along the lines of Nick’s comment, how do you know which chord is correct if there are 2 or 3 displayed?

    12. Greg
      June 6th, 2010 at 19:55 | #12

      what chord is this?

      xx0235. It’s basically a D, only the high E string is played on the 5th fret on an A.

      thanks

    13. June 6th, 2010 at 20:34 | #13

      Looks like Asus4 to me!

    14. darkhorse1985
      June 21st, 2010 at 04:39 | #14

      This widget is great but it doesn’t seem to identify slash chords?
      I don’t know how do you pronounce “-9″ in a chord name? I’ve altered a D chord, flatted the 5th and raised 5th to a “-9″ ( x,0,0,1,4,2). Can anyone help me identify this chord?

      Thanks
      -Matt

    15. August 20th, 2010 at 20:00 | #15

      But what about if the string is left open? It seems as if a note is not being played on that string, it is “x”‘ed or muted. What if you play the string open? How do you remove the x so you hear the string/note?

    16. Austin
      October 29th, 2010 at 14:19 | #16

      Please answer the question that nick and TD asked! Most of us are wondering the same thing! Sweet tool if i knew how to use it though.

    17. October 29th, 2010 at 15:12 | #17

      Hey guys… I did not write this little gem! Notice in the graphic is if from a site called “”The Noise” news for musicians… I will send them an email and see if we can all get the answer!! =GuitarDaddy

    18. Austin
      October 30th, 2010 at 18:06 | #18

      ok that would be awesome :-)

    19. MOXY
      November 1st, 2010 at 15:41 | #19

      thank you for this site it really is great.

      moxy

    20. November 23rd, 2010 at 18:12 | #20

      Man Ive only been playing for 9 months or so and Im always playing around w my guitar and just wanted to say thanks for showing me whats up!

    21. December 24th, 2010 at 19:37 | #21

      This is a godsend.

    22. bestimmt
      December 28th, 2010 at 04:16 | #22

      This is simply the most useful thing on the internet. You could sell this (but please don’t :) . Ever think of making this into an iPhone app? You’d make a fortune.

    23. C_Chord
      January 11th, 2011 at 14:16 | #23

      If more than one chord is shown then the chord being played is all of them. Standard ‘A’ major is the same as Csharp minor augmented 5th. That’s just how chords work. It will sound more like an A major to the person listening because the root note A is on the lowest string (among other things)…

      Usually the most obvious chord is the one you are after, i.e. the one that isn’t augmented, or with numbers after it. The small numbers underneath showing R,1,2,3 etc. also give you a clue to which notes in that scale are being played. R (root) 3 and 5 make up the standard arpeggio (the triad chord that sounds good to your ear).

      So, R35 is a major chord, Rm35 (root, minor 3rd, 5th) is a minor chord.

      Awesome little app!

    24. Brian
      April 6th, 2011 at 06:08 | #24

      Incredible! Very helpful and the audio function is icing on the cake. One of the best web applications I’ve come across.
      Thank you!

    25. Bonnamassa wannabee
      May 13th, 2011 at 07:40 | #25

      Flippin brilliant. Whoever created this needs a medal. Now all the chords are there, there is now no excuse for my appalling song writing.

    26. M
      May 13th, 2011 at 17:03 | #26

      its a D5– Not technically a chord, since it has only two unique notes(D-A-D-A)

    27. Jeremy
      June 5th, 2011 at 02:12 | #27

      I love this tool! But, what happened to the “strum” feature that let you hear the chord you entered? That was EXTREMELY handy as well.

    28. Jim Saleeba
      June 28th, 2011 at 05:54 | #28

      Hey this isn’t the same widget! and it’s not nearly as good as the old one. Before I could play the chord and hear it and it looked more real.

    29. Seth
      July 1st, 2011 at 12:58 | #29

      Hello.

      If you click on the little “4″ under “Number of strings,” then the tuning is automatically set to a standard tenor/concert/soprano ukulele (GCEA).

      Hope I could help.

    30. Jeremy
      July 3rd, 2011 at 11:40 | #30

      Jim Saleeba :
      Hey this isn’t the same widget! and it’s not nearly as good as the old one. Before I could play the chord and hear it and it looked more real.

      Jim is right. Is there any way to fix this? Or is the feature available and we just don’t see it? The new look is also nowhere as good as the last version.

    31. Damien
      July 3rd, 2011 at 15:43 | #31

      Hello Guys! This is an awesome tool! Theres just something i dont understand! Whats the notation that appears next to the chord possible name!

      For instance try putting an “Am” in the graphic as

      EADGBe
      x02210

      Possible answers that appear are:

      C 6th no5 ||R36
      E aug5 sus4 ||R4a5
      A m ||Rm35

      But wot does that R36, R4a5, Rm35 stand for? Wot does dat mean?

      I am guessing R is root? but wot about the numbers? wot are they? anyone help please?

    32. C_Chord
      August 1st, 2011 at 10:35 | #32

      R = root
      mX (e.g. m3) = minor note (e.g. min 3rd)
      aX (e.g. a4) = augmented note (e.g. aug 4th)

      Major chords triad is R35, minor is Rm35, sixth is R36, etc.

      No5 means no 5th is being played.

      Hope that helps…

    1. January 11th, 2011 at 11:58 | #1