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Your first chords: reading guitar and ukulele diagrams
A chord diagram is a map for your fingers. Let's learn to read frets, fingers, open and muted strings - and play that first chord.
A chord diagram is a map
A chord diagram shows the neck of the instrument from the front. The vertical lines are the strings, the horizontal lines are the frets (the metal bars on the neck). Dots on the diagram tell you where to place your fingers.
How to read the markings
- Dot on a string - press the string against that fret here.
- Number in the dot - which finger to use (1 = index, 2 = middle, 3 = ring, 4 = little).
- 0 above a string - play the string open (no pressure).
- x above a string - do not play that string (mute it).
Guitar and ukulele are not the same
A standard guitar has six strings (tuned E-A-D-G-B-e), a ukulele has four (tuned G-C-E-A). The same chord therefore has a different shape on each instrument - but the chord tones we met earlier (root, third, fifth) are present in both.
Chord difficulty
On chord.si every shape is marked with a difficulty - beginner, intermediate or advanced. Many chords have several variations: start with the easiest and progress as you get comfortable.
Starter chords that unlock hundreds of songs: on guitar C, G, D, Em, Am; on ukulele C, F, G, Am. With these few chords you can already play along to real music.
That closes the beginner tier. If you want to understand why certain chords fit so well together, the intermediate tier awaits with scales, intervals and chord progressions.
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