Type the chords of a song between bar lines, mark the verse and the chorus, and get a clean chord chart to print, save as a PDF or keep in your browser. This is the chart a band reads from: chord names in bars. If you were after finger shapes instead, the guitar chord finder draws those. No account, nothing to install, like the rest of our free guitar tools.
How it works
The tool turns a list of chords into a readable chart, laid out to print, to save, to play from with a band, or to keep a record of your own songs.
- Chord chart: write the chords separated by bar lines,
for example
| C | G | Am | F |. Use a double bar to mark the end of a section, and[Verse]or[Chorus]to name one. - Notes: a capo position, a strumming hint, an ending. They print on one line under the title.
- Generate the chart: redraws the preview from what you typed.
- Writing:
|adds a bar line,||adds a double bar. - Transpose: T+½ and T−½ move every chord a half step.
- Orientation: ▯ portrait (4 bars per line), ▭ landscape (8 bars per line). The title is centered at the top.
- Fonts: pick a font for the title, the chords and the notes, switch on B, I or U, then set the size of each.
- Colors: click a swatch under each element.
- Projects: save, load, update or delete a chart by name, export or import it as JSON, copy the SVG, print or save a PDF, set the zoom or let auto fit size it to the page.
- Share: copy a link that opens the same chart, or send it from the Share row.
How to write a chord chart here
Everything goes in the chord chart field, as plain text. The bar line does the work: whatever sits between two of them is one bar. Here is all the syntax the tool reads.
| What you type | What you get |
|---|---|
| C | G | Am | F | | Four bars, one chord in each. The bar line is the only separator the tool needs. |
[Verse] | A section label, written before the bars it names. It prints in bold above them, and those bars start a fresh line. |
| C G | Am F | | Two chords in one bar, separated by a space. They are spread evenly inside the box, so a half-bar change reads as one. |
| D | A | E | E || | A double bar to close a section. It prints as a thick and a thin line, the way a printed chart marks the end of a part. |
G/B, Am7, F#m7b5, Bbmaj7 | Any chord name you can type. The tool prints it as written and only reads it to transpose. |
Then press Generate the chart. Line breaks in the field do not matter: the layout comes from the orientation, 4 bars to a line in portrait and 8 in landscape, and a section label always starts a new line.
Four charts to try
Paste one of these into the chord field to see how the tool lays it out, then change it into your own song.
| Form | What to write | Why it works |
|---|---|---|
| 12-bar blues in A | | A7 | D7 | A7 | A7 | D7 | D7 | A7 | A7 | E7 | D7 | A7 | E7 || | I IV I I, IV IV I I, V IV I V. Three lines in portrait, which is exactly the shape of the form. |
| Pop progression in G | [Verse] | G | D | Em | C | [Chorus] | C | G | D | D || | The I V vi IV loop and a chorus that starts on the IV. Transpose it to fit a singer. |
| 32-bar AABA | [A] eight bars, [A] eight bars, [B] eight bars, [A] eight bars | The standard song form. Labelling each part before writing a single chord keeps the repeats honest. |
| Two chords per bar | | C Am | F G | C Am | F G || | Half-bar changes, common in ballads and doo-wop turnarounds. |
If you are still looking for the chords themselves, start upstream. Our chord progression generator builds a progression in any key, and the chord detector listens to a recording and names the chords it hears. Write the result here once you have it.
Chord chart, chord diagram or tab?
Three ways of writing guitar music down, and they answer different questions.
- A chord chart, the one this tool makes, says which chord and when: the form of the song, bar by bar. It assumes you know the shapes.
- A chord diagram says where the fingers go for one chord. The guitar chord finder draws one as a clean diagram from the frets you click, and how to read chord diagrams explains the dots, the x and the o.
- A tab says which string and which fret, note by note. For a riff or a melody, use the guitar tab maker.
A chart also does not hold rhythm inside the bar. Add a strumming hint in the notes, or practice the changes against the online metronome at the tempo you wrote in the header. To hear the chart played by a band, type its chords into the backing track generator.
Habits that make a chart readable
- One bar, one box. If a chord lasts two bars, write it twice. Counting boxes is faster than counting beats when you are playing.
- Name every section. Verse, Chorus, Bridge, or simply A and B. That is what lets someone say "from the second chorus" in a rehearsal.
- Close sections with a double bar. The eye finds the end of a part before it reads the chords.
- Keep the notes short. They print on one line: a capo, a feel, an ending. Anything longer belongs on paper next to the chart.
- Transpose before you print. If a singer needs it a tone lower, two clicks on T−½ rewrite every chord, and the chart that goes on the music stand is the one you will actually play.
Prefer a pencil? The blank chord grid prints the same layout empty: rows of bars with numbers and section marks, ready to fill in by hand.
Frequently asked questions
Is a chord chart the same as a chord diagram?
How do I put two chords in one bar?
How does the transpose button spell the new chords?
How do I save the chart as a PDF?
Where are my charts saved?
Is there a watermark on the printed chart?
Who made this
Guitar Social Club is the work of Yohann Abbou, a guitar teacher in Paris. He teaches adults, which shapes everything here: people with jobs, limited practice time and a clear idea of the songs they want to play. A chart a bandmate can read at first sight saves a rehearsal, and a scribbled list of chords does not: that is the whole point of this tool. The rest of our free guitar tools work the same way, and none of them asks you to sign up first.
More about Yohann on his page, and about why Guitar Social Club exists.