Guide · Rechord
What chord is this? Working it out by ear, and letting the phone do it
Every player meets a chord they cannot name — in a song, on a record, under their own fingers. Here is the order to ask the questions in, and what to do when you would rather just know.
Find the root first
Most chords are built in thirds on a single note, and that note is what the chord is named after. Hum the note the chord seems to settle on, then find it on the instrument. If two notes both feel like home, the chord may be an inversion — the bass note is not always the root.
Once you have the root, the rest is spelling. Play the root and add the next likely note, a third above; whether that third is major or minor decides most of the chord’s character.
Major, minor, seventh, and the rest
A major third above the root sounds bright; a minor third sounds darker. Add the fifth and you have a triad. A seventh on top — flattened for dominant and minor sevenths, natural for a major seventh — is what gives a chord its pull or its float.
Extensions (ninths, elevenths, thirteenths) and suspensions change the colour without changing the root. If a chord sounds richer than a triad but you cannot place why, it is usually one of these.
Or play it and read the name
Rechord listens through the microphone and names the chord as you hold it — majors, minors, sevenths, extensions and more, on guitar or piano. Play three or more notes together, let them ring, and the name appears, drawn in Chordology’s colour system so the same chord looks the same on every instrument.
Audio is analysed live on the device and never recorded or sent anywhere. Every chord you name is kept in a history, and Rechord Pro captures a whole song as a chord chart you can send to a bandmate.
Questions
- Why does the same chord have two names?
- Because it can be spelled from two roots. C6 and Am7 contain the same four notes; which name is right depends on the bass note and the key you are in. A chord finder gives you one; the song decides which.
- Can an app identify chords from a recording?
- Rechord names what it hears live through the microphone, so it works with a song playing in the room, though a clean guitar or piano is the surest. Dense mixes with bass and drums are harder for any listener, human or otherwise.
- Is Rechord free?
- Yes. Naming single chords is always free and the free version keeps your last 10. Rechord Pro is a one-time purchase that captures whole songs and keeps your full history — no subscription.
Guitar & piano chord finder
Play a chord. Hear its name.
Strum a guitar or play a piano and Rechord names the chord instantly — then shows it in the Chordology colour system, so you see the harmony, not just read it.