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How to read guitar chord charts

A chord chart, or chord diagram, is a picture of the guitar’s neck, upright, as if the guitar stood in front of you: it shows which string to press at which fret. Here is how to read one, on charts you can play.

C

Standard

x32010

R3RCEGCE
  1. The strings are the upright lines: six of them, the low E on the left and the high E on the right. The letters under the chart name them: E A D G B E.
  2. The frets are the lines across. The thick line at the top is the nut, the end of the neck.
  3. The dots are where your fingers go, between two fret lines. Here each dot says what its note is in the chord: R the root, 3 the third, 5 the fifth. Choose Fingers (Dots, in the Library or your page’s settings) and they show which finger to use instead: 1 the index, 2 the middle, 3 the ring, 4 the little finger. Most printed charts show fingers.
  4. ○ above a string means play it open, with no finger. ✕ means leave it out: don’t strum it.
  5. The diamond marks the root, the note the chord is named after.
  6. Under the chart, the note each string plays, and a strip of the whole neck showing where the shape sits.

Press Strum to hear the chord, Arpeggio to hear it one string at a time, or tap a dot to hear that note. Drag the strip under the chart to play the same chord further up the neck.

Open strings, barres and higher frets

Am

Standard

x02210

5R♭3AEACE

F

Standard

133211

R5R35RFCFACF

D

Standard

x57775

5R5R35DADF♯A
  • Am (x02210): An ✕ over the low E: leave it out. ○ over the A and the high E: they ring open.
  • F (133211): A barre: the first finger lies across every string at fret 1, drawn as one long bar.
  • D (x57775): Higher up the neck: the number beside the top fret is where the diagram starts, here fret 5.

Chords written as numbers

Song sheets and websites often write a chord as a row of numbers instead of a picture, one for each string from the low E: x32010 is the C above, x for a string left out, 0 for an open string. Paste one into the chord finder and it names the chord.

Reading chord names

  • A letter alone is a major chord: C. Bright and settled.
  • m is minor: Cm. Sadder.
  • 7 is a seventh chord: C7. It leans towards the next chord.
  • maj7 is a major seventh: Cmaj7. Soft and dreamy.
  • sus2, sus4 replace the third: Csus4. Open, waiting to resolve.
  • A slash, such as C/G, is a chord with another note in the bass: C with G as its lowest note.

Left-handed

Left-handed players read the chart mirrored, the low E on the right. Turn on Left-handed in the Library, or in your page’s settings, and every chart on the site is drawn that way.

Where next

Learn the first chords in order on the beginner chords page, print the free chord charts, or read how to read tab.

Questions

Which side of a chord chart is the low string?

The left: the low E is the line on the left, the high E on the right, as if the guitar stood upright facing you.

What do the numbers in the dots mean?

On most charts, which finger to use: 1 the index, 2 the middle, 3 the ring, 4 the little finger. Some charts, like this site’s at first, show what each note is in the chord instead: R the root, 3 the third, 5 the fifth.

What does an X mean on a chord chart?

Don't play that string: mute it or leave it out of the strum. An O means play it open.

What is the curved line or bar across a chord chart?

A barre: one finger, usually the first, presses several strings at the same fret.