Chord library
Every chord on the site in one place, searchable by type and root note.
This library gathers every chord diagram used in the site's practice sheets, sorted into four families: open chords (the first ones you learn, played near the nut), barre chords (one shape you can slide anywhere on the neck), power chords (two notes, neither major nor minor) and diminished or augmented chords (tension sounds, less common). Each diagram is a precomputed vector drawing, not a photo: it stays sharp at any size, on screen and in print, and loads instantly. The two filters, type and root, only narrow the list down to what you're after; the whole library stays browsable without them, and without JavaScript. The goal isn't to memorize everything, but to have a reliable reference on hand whenever a sheet mentions a chord you don't know yet.
Diminished, augmented: how are they different from major/minor?
Diminished — Root, minor third, diminished fifth (two minor thirds stacked): a tense chord, almost never used alone to end a phrase. On the fretboard, what's actually played is nearly always the diminished 7th chord (a fourth note added), since the plain triad has no practical 6-string fingering.
Augmented — Root, major third, augmented fifth (two major thirds stacked): unlike the diminished chord, its fifth is stretched rather than narrowed, giving a suspended, unstable color rather than a dark one.
How to read a chord diagram
The six vertical lines are the strings, from lowest (low E, on the left) to highest (high E, on the right); the horizontal lines are the frets. A dot shows where to place a finger. Above the diagram, an "O" marks a string played open, an "X" a string that must not ring. A thick bar linking several strings on one fret is a barre: a single finger flattens across all of them.
When the chord is played higher up the neck, a number appears to the right of the diagram: it's the number of the first fret shown. A diagram without that number starts at the nut. This marker is what lets one barre shape work in all twelve keys: only the starting fret changes, the fingering stays the same.
Practical tips and common mistakes
- Learn open chords before barre chords: barre chords need hand strength and precision that build up over several weeks, and they come far more easily once the open shapes are solid.
- The diagram shows one common fingering, not the only one: the same chord often exists in several places on the neck. The one shown is the most widespread, chosen to be playable, not to be unique.
- Never strum a string marked "X": it's the most frequent cause of a chord that sounds muddy, well ahead of a poorly placed finger. Practise muting those strings with a finger lightly touching them.
- The "5" in a power chord (E5, A5…) refers to the interval of a fifth, not a fret: a classic mistake for anyone hunting for the fifth fret when they read the chord name.
- Once the chord is fretted, play each string on its own to spot the one that's muted or buzzing: it's faster than replaying the whole chord over and over hoping the problem clears up.
Power Chords Guitar Chart – All 12 Diagrams & Fingerings →
A concrete example
Filter on "barre" and the key of F: the F major barre chord is the open E major shape moved up one fret, with the index finger replacing the nut. Compare it with open E major (filter "open", key of E): the dots sit in exactly the same layout, only the position on the neck has changed. That's the whole idea behind the CAGED system, laid out on its own page.