Chord namer
Chord Namer: Name Any Shape You Play
Click the frets you are holding, or type the fret number for each string, and see what the shape is called. Every name comes from the notes themselves, so you also get the root, the intervals used, the bass note, and the other names the same shape answers to.
Other readings of the same shape
The shape is checked against every root and every chord quality in the library. These are the readings that fit almost as well, with the reason each one is second best. Use them when the musical context points somewhere else.
How the chord namer works
- Place your fingers. Click the fret you are holding on each string, or type the fret numbers in the boxes. Open strings are 0, and a string you do not play is X. A capo shifts every string together, so the fret numbers stay the ones your fingers use.
- The notes are read from the tuning. Each sounding string becomes the note it would produce, and the notes are reduced to pitch classes — the twelve note names, regardless of octave.
- Every root and quality is tested. 31chord formulas in the library are compared against those notes: one name per root and quality, covering major, minor, suspended, sixth, seventh, ninth and thirteenth shapes.
- The names that fit exactly come first. A formula that uses every note in your shape and adds none is a real name for it. The one whose root is in the bass leads; the rest are listed as the other names for the same notes.
- Nothing fits exactly? Then the result is marked as a partial match and says which tone the closest name is missing or which extra note your shape adds. That happens with fragments, clusters and shapes that are still in progress.
What the result tells you
Symbol is what you would write on a chord chart, including a slash bass when the lowest note is not the root, as in C/E.Root and quality name the two decisions behind that symbol: which note the chord is built on, and which intervals sit above it.Intervals are the chord tones counted from the root — 1 for the root, 3 or b3 for the third, 5 for the fifth, 7 or b7 for the seventh — with the note each one lands on in this shape.Bass and voicing report which note is lowest, whether that makes the shape a root position chord or an inversion, whether it uses open strings, and whether the fingering looks like a movable barre.
Chord formulas used by the namer
These are the patterns behind the names you will meet most often, out of the 31 formulas the namer matches. Degrees are counted from the root: 1, b3, 3, 4, 5, b7, 7 and so on. A shape only has to contain the pattern; the order of the notes and any doublings do not change the name.
| Quality | Written as | Intervals | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| major | C | 1 – 3 – 5 | C E G |
| minor | Cm | 1 – b3 – 5 | C Eb G |
| power chord (no third) | C5 | 1 – 5 | C G |
| dominant seventh | C7 | 1 – 3 – 5 – b7 | C E G Bb |
| major seventh | Cmaj7 | 1 – 3 – 5 – 7 | C E G B |
| minor seventh | Cm7 | 1 – b3 – 5 – b7 | C Eb G Bb |
| suspended fourth | Csus4 | 1 – 4 – 5 | C F G |
| suspended second | Csus2 | 1 – 2 – 5 | C D G |
| major sixth | C6 | 1 – 3 – 5 – 6 | C E G A |
| minor sixth | Cm6 | 1 – b3 – 5 – 6 | C Eb G A |
| added ninth (no seventh) | Cadd9 | 1 – 2 – 3 – 5 | C E G D |
| half diminished | Cm7b5 | 1 – b3 – b5 – b7 | C Eb Gb Bb |
| diminished | Cdim | 1 – b3 – b5 | C Eb Gb |
| augmented | Caug | 1 – 3 – #5 | C E G# |
| diminished seventh | Cdim7 | 1 – b3 – b5 – 6 | C Eb Gb A |
| dominant ninth | C9 | 1 – 2 – 3 – 5 – b7 | C E G Bb D |
| major ninth | Cmaj9 | 1 – 2 – 3 – 5 – 7 | C E G B D |
| minor ninth | Cm9 | 1 – 2 – b3 – 5 – b7 | C Eb G Bb D |
| six-nine | C6/9 | 1 – 2 – 3 – 5 – 6 | C E G A D |
| suspended fourth with a seventh | C7sus4 | 1 – 4 – 5 – b7 | C F G Bb |
Worked examples
The open C shape x32010 sounds C, E, G, C, E. Reduce that to C, E and G and the shape is a C major, with C in the bass: root position. The same three notes are also an A minor — A C E — and the namer lists that reading next to the result rather than hiding it.
A seventh chord behaves the same way. x32310sounds C, E, Bb, C, E: the third and seventh with no fifth, so it reads as C7 and the result states that the 5th is left out. Shapes with a missing fifth are normal on guitar, which is why the namer still names them.
The same notes can also flip their first name depending on the bass.x 3 2 0 10 x is C, E, G, A with C lowest: C6 first, Am7 listed underneath. Play the same notes with A at the bottom —x 0 5 2 1 0 — and Am7 becomes the leading name because the root is in the bass.
Limits worth knowing
- The namer reads the notes you tell it. It does not listen to your guitar and it does not measure anything: what comes back is a name for the notes you entered, not an analysis of your playing.
- Octaves above the bass do not change a name. C E G, C G E and C E G C E are all C major, because the comparison is between note names, not registers. The bass note is the one octave decision that does matter, so it is always reported.
- The library covers the qualities in the table above. A shape that needs a name outside it — altered ninths, six-nine with a raised eleventh, or a note a semitone away from any chord tone — comes back as a partial match with the nearest formula and the reason it does not fit.
- Six-string guitar tunings are supported, standard and alternate, because the naming is done from the tuning's open notes. Bass, ukulele, mandolin and banjo shapes need their own string count and are not covered here.
- Everything runs in your browser. The frets you click are compared in the page and are never sent anywhere or stored.
Questions
Do I need to know music theory to use this?
No. Click the frets you are holding and read the name. The intervals and the root are there when you want to understand why a shape is called what it is called, and the reference table lists every pattern the namer matches.
Why does my chord have more than one name?
Because the same notes can be stacked from different roots. C E G A is a C6 with C in the bass and an Am7 with A in the bass. The namer puts the reading that matches your bass note first and lists the other names underneath, instead of pretending there is only one answer.
Can it name shapes in Drop D, DADGAD or open tunings?
Yes. Choose the tuning and the notes are read from that tuning's open strings. A power chord shape that is a D5 in Drop D is named from the notes it actually sounds, even though the fingering looks like something else in standard tuning.
How do I enter a capo?
Set the capo fret and keep using your normal fret numbers: the namer adds the capo to every string. An open C shape with the capo on fret 3 is reported as Eb major, which is what it sounds.
What if my shape only uses two strings?
Two notes are named as a power chord when they are a root and a fifth — C5, for example — and as a fragment otherwise, with the tone the closest name is missing. A chord needs at least three notes before major or minor becomes a meaningful answer.
Is anything sent to a server?
No. The fret positions you click are turned into note names and compared against the chord library in the page itself. Nothing is uploaded, stored or attached to your visit.
Related tools and pages
- Guitar tuning identifier— the other direction: give it the notes on each string and it names the tuning your guitar is in.
- Open C tuning chord shapes— the shapes worth knowing once the namer tells you a tuning is open C.
- Drop B tuning chords— drop-tuning shapes, useful when the namer reports a power chord with a name like Drop B.
- Guitar tuning frequency chart— the exact hertz behind every note the namer reports, at A4 = 440 Hz.
- Note to frequency converter— turn any note in a chord name into its frequency, or a frequency back into a note.