GelvinGuitarsArchive

Standard tuning · Every root · Every family

The chord
library.

Pick a root and this lays out the entire chord family built from it. Not just a pile of shapes: you get the fingering, the notes inside each voicing, and a button to hear what it actually sounds like.

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Root
Reading the box Vertical lines are strings, low E on the left.
Horizontal lines are frets.
A number to the left is the starting fret.
Above the nut ○  play this string open
✕  don't play this string
A thick bar means one finger flattens across.
Movable shapes Any shape with no open strings can slide up or down the neck.
Move it up two frets and the chord name moves up a whole step.
Voicings Dense chords often drop the fifth, it adds the least, so it's the first note to go when you only have six strings and four fingers.
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Working the other direction

If you know the shape but not the name, or you have a few chords and need the key they belong to, these pick up where this leaves off.

What chord is this?Key finderCircle of fifthsMusic theory

What to do with the shape

Play the notes one at a time, notice which note is in the bass, and compare nearby inversions. A shape is easier to remember when you understand which intervals are doing the work.

Last reviewed: August 2026