The CHORDS Page
Printable PDF Chord charts and diagrams for Guitar(standard, open G / Dobro and other tunings), Bass Guitar, 5 string Banjo[G, C(plectrum), double C and G modal tunings], Ukulele, Piano, Mandolin/GDAE tenor banjo, two string chords for fiddle(violin). Plus - advanced & movable guitar & mandolin chords, chord theory, playing hints and the Nashville Numbering system.
You may also be interested to check out our music education section which includes more info on chords & scales.| Share page | Visit Us On FB |
THE CHORDS LISTS PROVIDED are probably far more than even the most "jazzy" player will ever use. Currently we have charts for: Guitar, 5 string Banjo (G tuning DGBD and C tuning CGBD), Piano, Ukulele (C tuning GCEA) and Mandolin (the mandolin chords should also work for GDAE tenor banjo) are provided. The fiddle (violin) chords are of course for two strings only, and only for the most commonly used keys in traditional music folk music.
If you were looking, not for chord charts for your instrument, but for CHORD SEQUENCE PLAYING CHARTS for common session songs and tunes look HERE and HERE
Notes:
Conventions used: Sharp and flat chords can often be expressed in two ways, e.g. C sharp (C#) could also be written as D flat (Db). The chord spellings I have used here are the ones I have found most commonly used in folk and traditional music circles in the UK.
Fiddle players may also care to check out the mandolin chords pages for chord ideas as standard fiddle and standard mandolin use the same tuning.
Printable Chord diagrams
Should you need a print-out of the chord charts, PDF versions (without banners or adverts) are available from the link at the bottom of each chord page.
| Chords beginning | Instrument type Notes: Banjo C tuninig is the same as standard plectrum banjo tuning (CGBD). There 4 pages per key for piano, see submenu on bass guitar pages for other bass chords. | |||||||
A |
guitar | banjo C | banjo | mandolin | bass | Ukulele | piano1 piano2 piano3 piano4 | Fiddle |
Bb/A# |
guitar | banjo C | banjo | mandolin | bass | Ukulele | piano1 piano2 piano3 piano4 | Fiddle |
B |
guitar | banjo C | banjo | mandolin | bass | Ukulele | piano1 piano2 piano3 piano4 | Fiddle |
C |
guitar | banjo C | banjo | mandolin | bass | Ukulele | piano1 piano2 piano3 piano4 | Fiddle |
Db/C# |
guitar | banjo C | banjo | mandolin | bass | Ukulele | piano1 piano2 piano3 piano4 | . |
D |
guitar | banjo C | banjo | mandolin | bass | Ukulele | piano1 piano2 piano3 piano4 | Fiddle |
Eb/D# |
guitar | banjo C | banjo | mandolin | bass | Ukulele | piano1 piano2 piano3 piano4 | . |
E |
guitar | banjo C | banjo | mandolin | bass | Ukulele | piano1 piano2 piano3 piano4 | . |
F |
guitar | banjo C | banjo | mandolin | bass | Ukulele | piano1 piano2 piano3 piano4 | . |
Gb/F# |
guitar | banjo C | banjo | mandolin | bass | Ukulele | piano1 piano2 piano3 piano4 | . |
G |
guitar | banjo C | banjo | mandolin | bass | Ukulele | piano1 piano2 piano3 piano4 | Fiddle |
Ab/G# |
guitar | banjo C | banjo | mandolin | bass | Ukulele | piano1 piano2 piano3 piano4 | - |
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Click the instrument type in the row for the chords you want to see. Notes: The chords are for standard tunings for guitar and mandolin and for the most commonly used G tuning for 5 string banjo. Minor chords us a small "m" major by a cap, e.g. Am7 = A minor 7th AM7= A major 7, Augmented and diminished chords are often represented by a + and - suffix e.g. A+ A-, however I have used the more explanatory "aug" and "dim". | ||||||||
| Chords for Banjo and Guitar in special tunings | ||||||||||||
| Banjo - Double C tuning (CGCD) | A | Bb | B | C | C# | D | Eb | E | F | F# | G | Ab |
| Banjo - G Modal tuning (DGCD) | A | Bb | B | C | C# | D | Eb | E | F | F# | G | Ab |
| Guitar - Open G / Dobro tuning | A | Bb | B | C | C# | D | Eb | E | F | F# | G | Ab |
| Guitar - D Modal or Celtic tuning(DADGAD) | A | Bb | B | C | C# | D | Eb | E | F | F# | G | Ab |
| Guitar - Dropped D tuning(DADGBE) | A | Bb | B | C | C# | D | Eb | E | F | F# | G | Ab |
| Notes: Banjo 5th string tuned to G, Includes: major, minor, m6, m7, Maj7, 6th, 7th, 9th, diminished and augmented chords | ||||||||||||
Hints For Playing ChordsRather than trying to learn tons of different chord shapes, it may make sense (for banjo and guitar anyway), to learn just a couple, and use a capo to get the other keys. This is certainly the common practice in the fields of traditional old-time and bluegrass music, where, most players learn the "C" and "G" shapes and use a capo for any other keys. The reasons for learning at least two shape sets, and not just one, is that with just one, you may find yourself having to move uncomfortably far up the neck for some keys, also some shapes may not provide easy access to the melody notes you need to play a particular song. Some masochists may claim use of a capo is "cheating", and indeed some types of music need so much "weirdness" in the way of chords that a capo would be a hindrance, but as this site is about traditional stuff we don't talk about that kind of music on these pages. My view, as you might guess, is why suffer unnecessarily - life is to short and there are too many tunes to learn!
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Which Chords to use for which keyEach key has a set of chords which are the ones most commonly used for that key. Each of these chords corresponds to a step in the scale. These steps are traditionally numbered with Roman numerals (don't ask) . The first step "I" is the first note of the scale, for example playing in C the I is C, the II is D the III is E and so on. I have prepared a chart HERE which gives details of the chords for each key. These Roman numerals are also the basis of the "Nashville Notation" with which you may sometimes see a song notated, e.g. with I, IV, V etc instead of chord names. Examples of this in action will sometimes be seen in hastily formed scratch bands where one of the musicians who knows the song may be seen raising numbers of fingers behind his back, he is usually not being rude but trying to help out by signaling what is the next chord to be played. See Nashville Numbering System for a more detailed description. |
For chord books and charts to buy check the Chords Collection at Sheet Music Plus.
You may also be interested in other Chord Related Items on this site
Chord Charts & fingering diagrams for Guitar, Bass Guitar, Banjo(5 string G & C tuning), Mandolin, Piano and Fiddle(violin) with PDF
Chord Translation table to allow you to translate chords between any keys
The Nashville Numbering System, A simple way to transpose chords to different keys
Chord Sequence Charts, chord playing sequences for more than 600 session and jam songs/tunes
Chord Sequence Playing Charts Oldtimey/bluegrass for 400 session songs/tunes.
Scale charts for Guitar, Banjo Mandolin and Fiddle (violin)
Scales & Arpeggios for keyboard with exercises
Beginners Harmony, Constructing accompaniments, melodies etc, complete textbook for music students
MUSICAL MEMORY - A System To Cultivate The Musical Memory For Musicians
How to set song lyrics to music and easily create a tune - A non-technical guide for hands-on musicians and song writers
Learning to play the bluegrass instruments by Rick Townend
12 bar blues on any instrument. a basic guide by Rick Townend
Jazz Chords for guitar, A simple guide by Rick Townend
Blues Guitar Songs 400+ contemporary and traditional blues with lyrics, chords, tabs, playing hints and PDF
Jazz Standards Songs, 390 pieces from top bands and vocal artists, with lyrics, chords and some tabs
The Book of Jazz - all aspects of jazz explained
Teach Yourself Jazz - an introduction for musicians wishing to add jazz to their playing styles
EXTEMPORE PLAYING - tutorial - 40 Lessons, how to correctly play improvisations