How do I find out what chord I am playing?

Select every note in the chord, then set the lowest note if you know it. The tool names every chord those notes can spell, exact matches first.

Why does one set of notes give several chord names?

Because it genuinely does. C–E–G–A is C6 and also Am7 with C in the bass. Which name is correct depends on the bass note and the key you are in, so both are shown rather than one being guessed for you.

What does the bass note change?

Nothing about the notes, only the reading. Setting the lowest note lets the tool prefer the chord whose root you are actually playing and show slash notation for inversions.

Why are near matches listed?

Chords are often voiced incompletely — a fifth left out, or a passing note included. Near matches show the chord plus the one note missing or the one extra note, so you can decide whether the voicing was intentional.

Free tool

Chord Finder

Select the notes you are playing and see every chord they can spell — including the readings most tools hide from you.

Note arithmetic in your browser. No audio and no upload.

Your notes

Toggle every note in the chord.

Lowest note

Decides inversions and slash notation.

4 notes selected

Chord names

Chord readings for the selected notes
Chord	Quality	Notes	Reading
C6	major 6th	C E G A	Exact match
Am7	minor 7th	A C E G	Exact match
C	major	C E G	Extra A
Am	minor	A C E	Extra G
Am9	minor 9th	A C E G B	Missing B

Several names for one set of notes is a real property of harmony, not an error. To work out which reading fits the song, run the surrounding chords through the Chord Progression Analyzer.

Detail

How this works

The tool compares your notes against every chord quality on every root by pitch-class set, so the result is arithmetic rather than a guess. An exact match means the chord contains precisely the notes you entered, no more and no less.

More than one name is normal. Chords are named relative to a root and a key, and the same notes can belong to several. Setting the lowest note narrows this considerably, because it tells the tool which note the harmony is actually sitting on.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

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