Chord Finder

This chord finder works as a real-time chord identifier and chord analyzer: play any chord into your microphone or select notes on an interactive piano keyboard, and it names the chord instantly. See the chord name, quality, inversions, intervals, and finger positions on both guitar and piano diagrams. All processing runs locally in your browser — no audio is ever uploaded.

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Microphone:

Sensitivity -50 dB

Detected Notes

Start listening to detect notes

Drop an audio file here or click "Upload Audio" above

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Root Note

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Bass Note

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Inversion

Root Position

Notes: Waiting for input...

Intervals: —

Guitar Chord Diagram

Piano Chord Diagram

Chords Identified 0

Notes Detected 0

Session Time 0:00

Space Start/Stop F Freeze C Calibrate M Toggle Mode P Play Chord X Clear Notes

How to Use the Chord Finder

Choose Your Input Mode

Select "Listen" to use your microphone and play a chord on your instrument, or choose "Manual" to click notes on the interactive piano keyboard. You can also upload an audio file for analysis. Manual mode is especially useful for chords you're reading from sheet music or a lead sheet where you know the notes but want to confirm the chord symbol and see fingering diagrams.
Play or Select Notes

In Listen mode, strum a chord or play notes into your microphone. The tool uses FFT (Fast Fourier Transform) peak detection to extract simultaneous pitch classes from the audio spectrum and drive chord recognition in real time. In Manual mode, click the piano keys for each note in the chord — the identification updates instantly as you add or remove notes.
Read the Results

The chord name appears in large text along with the quality (Major, Minor, Diminished, Augmented, Dominant 7th, etc.), root note, bass note, inversion, all notes in the chord, and the diatonic intervals from the root. If the bass note differs from the root, the tool displays the chord in slash notation (e.g., G/B) and labels the inversion — useful context for voice leading work. To explore every inversion of the detected chord in depth, open the chord inversion tool.
View Diagrams and Play Back

The built-in guitar chord finder shows a fretboard diagram with finger positions, and the piano chord finder highlights the matching keys on the keyboard. Click "Play Chord" to hear all notes together using the Web Audio API synthesizer. Explore alternate voicings for different fingering positions on guitar — handy for finding a more comfortable fretting option or a higher-register voicing that sits better in a mix.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many chord types can this tool identify?

The Chord Finder recognizes over 30 chord types including major, minor, diminished, augmented, dominant 7th, major 7th, minor 7th, half-diminished, suspended 2nd and 4th, add9, 6th, 9th, 11th, 13th, and power chords. It also detects inversions.

Does this tool detect chord inversions?

Yes. The tool identifies when the bass note differs from the root and labels the inversion accordingly: Root Position, 1st Inversion, 2nd Inversion, or 3rd Inversion (for 7th chords). The bass note and root note are displayed separately.

Can I use this with my guitar or other instruments?

Absolutely. The microphone mode works with any instrument that produces pitched tones: guitar, piano, ukulele, violin, brass, woodwinds, and more. For best results, play the chord clearly and allow notes to sustain for at least one second.

What does the guitar chord diagram show?

The guitar diagram displays a 6-string, 5-fret grid with dots showing finger positions, barre indicators for barre chords, and X or O markers for muted or open strings. When available, alternate voicings show different ways to play the same chord.

Is my audio data private?

Yes. All chord detection runs 100% in your browser using the Web Audio API. No audio is recorded, transmitted, or stored on any server. The tool works completely offline once loaded.

Can I analyze audio files instead of using my microphone?

Yes. Click "Upload Audio" or drag and drop an audio file (WAV, MP3, OGG, FLAC) onto the drop zone. The file is decoded and analyzed locally in your browser. This is useful for identifying chords in recorded music.

How accurate is the chord detection from a microphone?

Accuracy depends on recording conditions. The tool works best in a quiet room with a clean, sustained chord. Background noise, heavy reverb, and very fast strumming reduce reliability. For polyphonic sources with several simultaneous timbres — such as a full band mix — the Manual mode (clicking piano keys yourself) will give more consistent results than microphone pitch detection. The "Calibrate" button helps set the noise floor before you play.

What do the intervals shown in the results mean?

The Intervals row lists the distance of each chord note above the root in semitones and names (e.g., "Root, M3, P5" for a major triad). This is the chord formula — the same pattern that defines the chord quality regardless of key. Understanding intervals helps you transpose any chord to a new root or recognize the same chord type across different instruments. For deeper study, the interval calculator lets you hear and compare individual intervals.

Can I use this chord identifier to transcribe songs by ear?

Yes, with realistic expectations. Play each chord of a song one at a time into your microphone and let the tool name it. It works well for clean guitar, keyboard, and ukulele recordings. Heavily distorted guitar, sustained synth pads, or dense orchestral textures are harder to analyze because multiple overlapping harmonics compete during FFT peak detection. For those sources, upload an isolated chord clip or use Manual mode. Once you identify the chords, the chord progression generator can help you map them to a key and build your own arrangement.

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