Guitar Chord Calculator
Pick a root note and a chord type and this calculator spells the chord for you: its name, the exact notes in it, the interval formula that built it, and the family of guitar position it belongs to. It covers all 12 roots across 9 chord types, 108 combinations, and every answer comes from the same interval arithmetic musicians use on paper.
Quick Answer
For the pre-filled case, root C and type Major, this calculator returns the chord name C, the notes C – E – G, the interval formula 1 – 3 – 5, and the fingering family Standard major position. It spells 108 chords in total: 12 roots across 9 chord types, every one built from the same fixed interval sets shown in the table below.
Key takeaways
- A chord type is a recipe, not a shape: major is always the root plus 4 and 7 semitones, minor is the root plus 3 and 7, and the other seven types in this tool follow the same idea.
- Every note is spelled with sharps. C minor comes out as C – D# – G in this tool, where most books write C – Eb – G. Same keys on the fretboard, different name on paper, and the article explains why.
- The tuning selector does not change any answer. Chord notes depend on the root and type only; tuning changes where your fingers go, and this calculator does not draw fretboard diagrams.
- The “Common Fingering” line names a position family, not exact frets. Treat it as a pointer to the standard shape to look up, not as the shape itself.
- Quick Answer
- How to use this guitar chord calculator
- The nine chord formulas this calculator uses
- Worked examples: five chords spelled out
- Why every note is spelled with sharps
- What the tuning selector does and does not do
- What competing calculators miss
- Frequently asked questions
- Add This Calculator to Your Website
- References
How to use this guitar chord calculator
Pick a root note and a chord type, then click Calculate. The chord name, its notes, its interval formula and its position family appear together, and nothing is worked out until you ask.
- Root note: the note the chord is built from and named after. The menu lists the five sharp roots with their flat equivalents (C# / Db, D# / Eb, F# / Gb, G# / Ab, A# / Bb), because on guitar the two names share one fret.
- Chord type: the quality of the chord. Nine types are covered, from plain major and minor triads through the three seventh chords to diminished, augmented and the two suspended types.
- Tuning: standard, drop D or half step down. Record it for your own notes if you like, but read the tuning section below before expecting it to change an answer: it cannot.
- Read all four outputs: the name is what you write on a chord chart, the notes are what has to sound, the formula is how you could rebuild the chord on any root without this page, and the fingering line names the family of shapes to practise.
- Reset returns the selectors to C, Major and Standard and hides the result, so you can start a fresh lookup without reloading the page.
The nine chord formulas this calculator uses
Each chord type is a fixed set of semitone steps from the root, and the calculator does nothing more mysterious than count those steps around the 12-note chromatic scale. Learn the nine recipes and you can spell any of the 108 chords in your head.
| Chord type | Symbol | Semitones from root | Interval formula | Notes when the root is C |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Major | C | 0, 4, 7 | 1 – 3 – 5 | C – E – G |
| Minor | Cm | 0, 3, 7 | 1 – b3 – 5 | C – D# – G |
| Dominant 7th | C7 | 0, 4, 7, 10 | 1 – 3 – 5 – b7 | C – E – G – A# |
| Major 7th | Cmaj7 | 0, 4, 7, 11 | 1 – 3 – 5 – 7 | C – E – G – B |
| Minor 7th | Cm7 | 0, 3, 7, 10 | 1 – b3 – 5 – b7 | C – D# – G – A# |
| Diminished | Cdim | 0, 3, 6 | 1 – b3 – b5 | C – D# – F# |
| Augmented | Caug | 0, 4, 8 | 1 – 3 – #5 | C – E – G# |
| Suspended 2nd | Csus2 | 0, 2, 7 | 1 – 2 – 5 | C – D – G |
| Suspended 4th | Csus4 | 0, 5, 7 | 1 – 4 – 5 | C – F – G |
The formula column uses scale-degree numbers: 1 is the root, 3 is the third, 5 is the fifth, and a “b” or “#” lowers or raises that degree by one semitone. The single semitone between a major and a minor third (4 steps versus 3) is the whole difference between a major chord and its minor twin, which is why the minor rows are the major rows with one note nudged down. Suspended chords are the exception to the stacking-thirds pattern behind the rest: they drop the third altogether and put the 2nd or the 4th in its place, which is what gives them their unresolved, floating sound.
Worked examples: five chords spelled out
Each example below is this calculator’s own output for those inputs, checked against its code. Any root works the same way, because only the starting point on the chromatic scale changes.
- C major: root C, type Major returns C, notes C – E – G, formula 1 – 3 – 5. Four semitones up from C is E, seven is G.
- A minor: root A, type Minor returns Am, notes A – C – E, formula 1 – b3 – 5. The flattened third of A is C natural, so this one reads the same in any book.
- G dominant 7th: root G, type Dominant 7th returns G7, notes G – B – D – F, formula 1 – 3 – 5 – b7. The seventh of G lands on F natural, ten semitones up.
- D minor: root D, type Minor returns Dm, notes D – F – A, the standard first chord most beginners learn after Am and Em.
- F# diminished: root F#, type Diminished returns F#dim, notes F# – A – C, formula 1 – b3 – b5. Two stacked minor thirds, three semitones each, which is why diminished chords sound so compressed.
Why every note is spelled with sharps
This tool names every chromatic note with a sharp, never a flat, and that choice shows up in its answers. Ask for C minor and you get C – D# – G; a theory book spells the same chord C – Eb – G, because in the key of C minor the third degree is properly written as Eb.
Neither spelling changes what you play. D# and Eb are the same fret, the same pitch, the same sound; they are enharmonic equivalents, two names for one note. The difference matters on paper, not on the neck: sheet music follows the key signature’s naming convention, while this calculator follows a single 12-name list (C, C#, D, D#, E, F, F# and so on) so that its arithmetic stays simple and every answer is consistent. When you copy a result into written music, respell the sharps as flats wherever the key calls for flats: A# becomes Bb, D# becomes Eb, G# becomes Ab, and F# in a diminished chord may need to read as Gb. The root menu already shows both names side by side for exactly this reason.
What the tuning selector does and does not do
It does nothing to the answer, and this page will not pretend otherwise. The calculator’s code reads only the root note and the chord type; the tuning value is never used in the calculation, so Standard, Drop D and Half Step Down return identical names, notes and formulas for every one of the 108 combinations. That behaviour is preserved here and stated openly.
There is a sound reason the answer does not depend on tuning: a chord’s notes are a fact about pitch, not about any one instrument’s setup. A C major chord is C, E and G in every tuning ever devised. What tuning changes is the fingering, which string and fret produces each note, and that is the one thing this tool does not compute. Its “Common Fingering” output names the standard position family for the chord type (for example “Standard major position” or “Dominant 7th position”) as a pointer to the shape family to practise. For exact fret-by-fret diagrams in a specific tuning, you need a chord library, and the next section is honest about which ones do that job well.
What competing calculators miss
Most guitar chord tools on the web solve a different problem from this one, and the gaps run in both directions:
- Reverse chord finders (Strumly, Guitar Chord Identifier, the guitarnotes.com Superstrings finder): strong when you already have fingers on a shape and want its name, including alternate names and slash-chord readings. Useless in the other direction: if you know the name and want the notes, which is the beginner’s actual question, a fret-tapping board is the slow way to get them.
- Calculator.now’s Chord Finder: covers both directions and adds a piano keyboard, which is genuinely useful. Its chord-to-notes mode buries the interval formula behind extra clicks, and the guitar fingering is a generic suggestion rather than a worked position.
- CMUSE’s Guitar Chord Calculator: the closest rival, root plus type with formulas printed. It covers more types than this page (power chords, add9, diminished 7th, minor 7 flat 5) and spells minor chords with flats, and it pays for the breadth with a heavier page of presets, key context and voicing controls before you reach the answer.
- Chord libraries (Pickup Music, Guitar Tricks, the 8gwifi chart, guitar.ch’s 13,500-chord Chord Finder): diagrams, finger numbers, multiple voicings and in some cases recorded audio for every chord. Nothing here competes with that for learning shapes, and this page does not claim to. What the libraries rarely give you is the recipe: the semitone steps and scale degrees that let you rebuild the chord on a root they do not list, or check a diagram you do not trust.
- The gap this page fills: the spelling itself, instantly, with the formula attached: pick a root and a type and you get the name, the exact notes and the interval recipe in one click, plus an open statement of the two things the tool does not do (flat spellings and tuning-specific fingerings) instead of a selector that silently pretends to matter.
Frequently asked questions
It spells a chord from its name. You choose one of 12 root notes and one of 9 chord types, and it returns the chord’s name, the exact notes in it, the interval formula that built it, and the family of guitar position it belongs to. That is 108 chords, each one produced by counting fixed semitone steps from the root around the chromatic scale.
The numbers are scale degrees counted from the root: 1 is the root itself, 3 is the third, 5 is the fifth, and 7 is the seventh. A “b” in front lowers that degree by one semitone and a “#” raises it by one. So 1 – b3 – 5 means root, flattened third, perfect fifth, which is the minor recipe: from C that gives C, D# (the flattened third) and G.
Because this calculator spells every note from a single 12-name list that uses sharps only. D# and Eb are enharmonic equivalents: the same fret and the same pitch with two different names. Theory books spell C minor as C – Eb – G because Eb belongs to the key signature, and if you are writing the chord down you should use the flat spelling. What you play does not change.
No. The code reads only the root note and the chord type, so Standard, Drop D and Half Step Down return identical names, notes and formulas for all 108 combinations. That is musically correct, because a chord’s notes do not depend on tuning. Tuning changes the fingering, the string and fret for each note, and this calculator does not compute fingerings beyond naming the position family.
The fingering output names the standard position family for the chord type, such as “Standard major position” or “Diminished position”. It is a label for the family of shapes to practise, not a fretboard diagram, and most chords can be played in several positions up and down the neck anyway. For exact fret numbers and finger placement, use a chord library alongside this page: this tool’s job is the spelling and the theory, theirs is the diagram.
Both add a seventh to a major triad, but at different distances. A major 7th adds the note 11 semitones above the root, one semitone below the octave, giving Cmaj7 as C – E – G – B. A dominant 7th adds the note 10 semitones up, a flattened seventh, giving C7 as C – E – G – A#. That one semitone is why dominant 7ths sound restless and pull back to the tonic in blues and rock, while major 7ths sound settled.
Power chords (C5), added-note chords such as add9, diminished 7th, minor 7 flat 5, and the extended 9th, 11th and 13th chords are not among the nine types. You can still work most of them out from the same recipe logic: a power chord is just 1 – 5, and a diminished 7th is the diminished triad plus a note 9 semitones above the root. The calculator itself will not produce those names, and this page would rather say so than imply it covers every chord.
The notes and the interval formula are instrument-independent, so yes: a Cm7 is C – D# – G – A# on any instrument, spelled with flats as C – Eb – G – Bb in written music. Only the Common Fingering line is guitar-specific, since it names guitar position families. Piano and ukulele players can use the name, notes and formula and ignore that one line.
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References
- Ricci Adams. musictheory.net Lessons: Intervals, Chords and Diatonic Chords. Accessed October 22, 2026.
- Dolmetsch Foundation. Music Theory Online: full table of contents. Accessed October 22, 2026.
- Dolmetsch Foundation. Music Theory Online, Chapter 9: Key Signatures and Accidentals. Accessed October 22, 2026.
- Toby W. Rush, University of Dayton. Music Theory Pages: handouts on intervals, triads and seventh chords. Accessed October 22, 2026.
- Fiveable. AP Music Theory Unit 3 Review: Triads and Seventh Chords. Accessed October 22, 2026.
- Hear and Play Music Learning Center. How Music Scholars Classify Chords. Accessed October 22, 2026.