Chord Map · free, in your browser

Find your next chord.

Play a chord on your guitar, or tap one on the map. See where it can go next and why, then build your song, write the lyrics and share it.

Leads homeIn the keyColour from outsideWarm slice: chords of C major

ExampleThe pop axis: press Play to hear it, then make it yours.
Build the progression, then put it on the words in Lyrics.
×1

Tell the story: verses usually stay close to home.

C
I
Lift off→
G
V
Deceptive turn→
Am
vi
Hopeful rise→
F
IV
+

Click a chord to select it · drag to move it · double-click to play from there · right-click for more

Try next from F

C
Soft return
G
Build tension
Am
Sink into minor
Fm
Nostalgic shadow
Dm
Lean in
B♭
Mixolydian sway

Famous progressions

Start from a progression thousands of songs are built on, then make it yours: swap chords, add shades, change the key.

  • The pop axis
    I – V – vi – IV
    C · G · Am · F(C major)

    The most-used progression in modern pop: bright, hopeful, endlessly loopable.

    UpliftingHopeful

    Heard in Let It Be (The Beatles), No Woman, No Cry (Bob Marley & The Wailers)

  • The sensitive female chord progression
    vi – IV – I – V
    Em · C · G · D(G major)

    The pop axis started on the minor chord: longing turning into hope.

    MelancholicHopeful

    Heard in Zombie (The Cranberries)

  • The ’50s progression
    I – vi – IV – V
    A · F♯m · D · E(A major)

    Doo-wop’s signature loop: warm, nostalgic, a little innocent.

    NostalgicUplifting

    Heard in Stand by Me (Ben E. King), Every Breath You Take (The Police)

  • Pachelbel’s canon
    I – V – vi – iii – IV – I – IV – V
    D · A · Bm · F♯m · G · D · G · A(D major)

    A stepwise walk down the bass that sounds like a slow-motion memory.

    NostalgicHopeful

    Heard in Canon in D (Johann Pachelbel), Basket Case (Green Day)

  • Three-chord rock and roll
    I – IV – V – IV
    D · G · A · G(D major)

    I, IV and V: the backbone of rock and roll, blues and folk.

    Uplifting

    Heard in La Bamba (Ritchie Valens), Twist and Shout (The Beatles)

  • Mixolydian rock
    I – ♭VII – IV – I
    D · C · G · D(D major)

    The flat seven gives classic rock its swagger: big, open, a little rebellious.

    UpliftingEpic

    Heard in Sweet Home Alabama (Lynyrd Skynyrd), Sympathy for the Devil (The Rolling Stones)

  • Dreamy vamp
    I – IV
    Cmaj7 · Fmaj7(C major)

    Two major-seventh chords rocking back and forth: weightless and warm.

    DreamyHopeful
  • 12-bar blues
    I – I – I – I – IV – IV – I – I – V – IV – I – V
    A7 · A7 · A7 · A7 · D7 · D7 · A7 · A7 · E7 · D7 · A7 · E7(A major)

    Twelve bars of dominant sevenths: the form behind blues and early rock.

    Uplifting

    Heard in Johnny B. Goode (Chuck Berry), Hound Dog (Big Mama Thornton / Elvis Presley)

  • ii–V–I
    ii – V – I – I
    Dm7 · G7 · Cmaj7 · Cmaj7(C major)

    Jazz’s favourite cadence: tension building step by step, then home.

    DreamyUplifting

    Heard in Autumn Leaves (Joseph Kosma)

  • Circle of fifths
    vi – ii – V – I
    Am · Dm · G · C(C major)

    Each chord falls a fifth into the next: the strongest chain of pulls there is.

    NostalgicDreamy

    Heard in Fly Me to the Moon (Bart Howard)

  • The standard turnaround
    I – vi – ii – V
    C · Am · Dm · G(C major)

    The loop under countless jazz standards and ballads.

    NostalgicDreamy

    Heard in Blue Moon (Rodgers & Hart)

  • The Andalusian cadence
    i – VII – VI – V
    Am · G · F · E(A minor)

    Four chords walking down to the dominant: flamenco fire and dark drama.

    DarkTenseEpic

    Heard in Hit the Road Jack (Ray Charles), Sultans of Swing (Dire Straits)

  • Epic minor
    i – VI – III – VII
    Am · F · C · G(A minor)

    Minor home rising through three major chords: anthemic and bittersweet.

    EpicMelancholic

    Heard in Save Tonight (Eagle-Eye Cherry)

  • Aeolian vamp
    i – VII – VI – VII
    Em · D · C · D(E minor)

    A dark, driving minor loop that never quite resolves.

    EpicDark

    Heard in Rolling in the Deep (Adele)

  • Minor lament
    i – iv – i – v
    Am · Dm · Am · Em(A minor)

    Rocking between home and the minor four: heavy, folk-like sadness.

    MelancholicDark
  • The “Creep” progression
    I – III – IV – iv
    G · B · C · Cm(G major)

    A bright secondary dominant, then the major four turning minor: beauty with a lump in the throat.

    MelancholicDreamy

    Heard in Creep (Radiohead)

  • The epic cadence
    vi – IV – ♭VI – ♭VII – I
    Am · F · A♭ · B♭ · C(C major)

    Two borrowed chords climbing home: the triumphant movie-trailer ending.

    EpicHopeful
  • The royal road
    IV – V – iii – vi
    F · G · Em · Am(C major)

    J-pop’s favourite: rising tension that falls into a wistful minor.

    HopefulMelancholic
  • Nostalgic ending
    I – IV – iv – I
    G · C · Cm · G(G major)

    The four chord darkens to minor just before home: a sweet, sad farewell.

    NostalgicMelancholic
  • Folk sway
    I – V – IV – V
    G · D · C · D(G major)

    A simple, swaying loop around home: campfire-friendly.

    UpliftingHopeful
CGAmF
✓ F

How it works

Explore, build, play along.

The Chord Map turns harmony into something you can see, hear and touch, so you learn which chords belong together by playing, not by memorising rules.

  1. 01

    Explore the sky

    Every star is a chord; your key glows as a warm slice. Tap a star to hear it. Light trails show where it can go next, coloured by how the move feels.

  2. 02

    Build your song

    Drag stars into your song and arrange them into an intro, verses, a chorus and a bridge. Long-press a chord to give it a different shade, like Fmaj7 or Fadd♯11. Then switch to Lyrics, write the words and tap a word to place each chord over it. Press play to hear the whole song.

  3. 03

    Play along

    Turn on the mic and play. The map follows what you strum, records your ideas, and lights up every change you nail.

FAQ

Questions about the Chord Map.

How it hears your guitar, how it picks chords, and what's free (almost everything).

  • What is the Chord Map?
    A free, interactive map of chord progressions for guitar players. Every chord in a key is placed on a circle of fifths; from any chord, the map shows which chords can come next, how each move feels (bright, dark, dreamy, tense) and why it works, with the guitar fingering for each one. Build your own songs with sections, write the lyrics with the chords placed over the words, and play them back.
  • How does it know which chords fit together?
    It combines functional harmony (tonic, predominant and dominant chords), borrowed chords and secondary dominants with how often each move appears in popular music. You can steer it with a mood, a style, and an adventure slider that lets less common moves in.
  • Does it really hear the chord I play?
    Yes. With your permission it listens through the microphone and recognises major, minor, seventh, suspended, diminished and power chords from a strum, usually within a third of a second. It works best with an acoustic or clean electric guitar in a quiet room. The audio is analysed on your device and never uploaded.
  • What are shades?
    Colours a chord can wear without changing its job. F, Fmaj7, Fadd9 and Fadd♯11 all do the same job in C major, but they feel plain, dreamy, airy or floating. Long-press any chord to try its shades, and the map tells you which notes each shade adds.
  • Do I need to know music theory?
    No. Everything is explained with sound and plain words first: tap, listen, compare. Roman numerals and terms like dominant or borrowed chord are there when you want them, so you pick up the theory as you play.
  • Can I write lyrics?
    Yes. Switch your song to Lyrics, write the words for each section and tap a word to place the next chord over it; drag a chord to put it on the exact syllable. The lyrics are saved with your song and travel with share links, and while the song plays, the chord lights up over its words.
  • Does it work with a capo?
    Yes. Set the capo in the settings: the chords stay the shapes you play, and everything sounds that many frets higher, as on your guitar. If a song's shapes are awkward, the Chord Map can suggest the same sound with easier shapes and a capo position.
  • Can I print my song?
    Yes. Print / PDF turns your song into a clean chart: the chords you chose with their fingerings, your sections and repeats, bars with every beat, and your lyrics with the chords over the words. It's made in your browser, so your song never leaves your device. The designed chart is part of Chord Map Pro, a one-time $4.99 for every song you make; printing the page itself gives a plain sheet of your chords and lyrics for free.
  • Is it free, and does it work on my phone?
    Yes and yes. Exploring, building, writing lyrics, playing along, saving and sharing are free, in any modern browser on iPhone, Android, Mac and PC, with nothing to install and no account. The one paid extra is Chord Map Pro: print-ready charts of your songs, as PDF or on paper, $4.99 once.

Chords only sound right on a tuned guitar. ChromTuner for Mac tunes you from the menu bar: it reads your USB interface at full sample rate through Core Audio and works offline, with a Peterson-style strobe, capo and transpose.

Get the Mac App — $6.99Download on the App Store