Guide · Chordology
Guitar chord shapes, and how to see the pattern under them
A C major chord is three notes. On a guitar it is at least five different shapes; on a piano it is three inversions. This is how they connect, and why a fretboard makes more sense once the notes have colours.
One chord, five shapes
Every major chord on a guitar can be played in the shape of an open C, A, G, E or D chord moved up the neck — the CAGED system. Each shape holds the same three notes in a different order, with the root on a different string.
That is why learning shapes as pictures fails past the fifth fret: the picture changes but the chord does not. Learn where the root sits in each shape and the other four shapes follow from it.
Inversions, on piano and guitar
An inversion puts a note other than the root at the bottom. On piano, C–E–G, E–G–C and G–C–E are the same chord with a different lowest note, and moving between them is how a progression stops jumping around the keyboard.
On guitar the same idea is hidden inside the shapes: the D shape is a C major chord in second inversion. Seeing that is easier when the notes are marked by pitch rather than by finger.
Give every note a colour
Chordology draws each of the twelve notes in its own colour, and the colour stays fixed across the fretboard, the keyboard, chord diagrams and tab. C is always the same hue, so a C major chord is the same three colours whether it is an open shape, a barre at the eighth fret or a piano voicing.
Every chord and scale plays back — as a strum, a block or an arpeggio — so a voicing can be checked by ear as well as by eye. Piano, guitar, bass, banjo and ukulele are all free with standard tuning; Chordology Pro adds alternate tunings, a capo on any fret and sharing, as a one-time purchase.
Questions
- What is the CAGED system?
- A way of seeing the guitar neck as five overlapping chord shapes — C, A, G, E and D — each movable. Any major chord can be played in all five positions, and the same shapes anchor the scale patterns around them.
- How do I know which notes are in a chord?
- Stack thirds from the root: root, third, fifth for a triad, then the seventh and beyond. Chordology spells every chord and scale out with its notes and intervals, so you can check rather than memorise.
- Is Chordology free?
- Yes. Every instrument, chord, scale and playback is free with standard tuning, on iPhone, iPad and Mac. Chordology Pro is a one-time purchase — no subscription.
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