A chord diagram is a little photograph of your fretboard, frozen mid-groove. Crack the code and you can teach yourself any chord in the known universe, no teacher, no app, just you and the map. Here's the key.
Picture the guitar standing upright, facing you. The vertical lines are the six strings; the horizontal lines are the frets. The thick line across the top is the 'nut'. The very start of the neck.
◆ KEY IDEA
Strings run low-to-high, left-to-right
The five things to read:
- 1Dots — where to put your fingers (which string, which fret).
- 2Numbers inside the dots (sometimes), which finger to use (1=index … 4=pinky).
- 3O above a string — play it open (don't fret it).
- 4X above a string — don't play that string at all.
- 5A curved line or a fret number to the side. A barre, or which fret the grid starts on.
That's the whole language, cosmic traveler. Every chord book and napkin scribble on Earth uses it. Read the dots, place your fingers, and boom. You're playing a chord you've literally never heard. Magic you do with your hands.
Your turn ⭐
Name That Chord
Read the diagram. Round 1 of 5.
The cheat sheet
- A chord diagram is the fretboard stood upright: vertical lines = strings, horizontal = frets.
- Left to right is thickest to thinnest string (low E to high E).
- Dots = fingers, O = open string, X = don't play.
- Numbers in dots tell you which finger (1=index to 4=pinky).
Common questions
Which way do the strings go on a chord diagram?
Left to right = thickest to thinnest (low E to high E). Imagine standing the guitar up and looking straight at the front of the neck.
What do the X and O above the diagram mean?
O means play that string open (unfretted); X means don't play (mute or skip) that string. Together they tell you exactly which strings belong in the chord.
Do I have to use the exact fingers shown?
The finger numbers are strong suggestions that make switching easier, but if a different finger gets the note clean and lets you change chords, that's fine while you're starting out.