Many of the diagrams in these lessons are interactive. You can tap them to hear notes and explore the material, rotate them, recolor and relabel them, change keys, etc. Each diagram carries its own set of controls, so what you can do varies a little from one diagram to the next.
Here's a tour of what you might find.
Note overlays
Unlike typical chord and scale diagrams, the fretboard diagrams on this site are usually labeled and colored to identify an interval from the root of a chord or the tonic of a key. It's much more useful to learn patterns and shapes along with the intervals that define them, rather than just memorizing occult patterns of indescript dots. But if you prefer, you can change how the dots appear in the diagram settings.
Tap the fretboard to explore
Many diagrams let you tap a note on the fretboard to hear it and see information about that note. It's a quick way to explore, try a shape one string at a time, or just hear how something sounds.
Anything you tap is temporary. To set the diagram back the way it started, use the clear button or reload the page.
The toolbar
Below each diagram is a small row of buttons. Not every button shows on every diagram: a single chord needs fewer controls than a full progression, and only useful ones are included. Here's what each does.
Buttons you'll usually see
- Rotate the fretboard. Switches between a vertical layout and a horizontal one. Pick whichever matches how you like to picture the neck.
- Sound on or off. Mutes and unmutes the audio. The icon shows a crossed-out speaker while the diagram is muted.
- Strum the chord. Plays the notes of the current shape together, the way you'd strum across the strings.
- Fullscreen. Fills the screen with the diagram, which helps on a phone or for a closer look. Tap it again to come back.
- Settings. Opens the settings drawer, which the next section covers.
Extra buttons on chord progressions
Some diagrams play through a sequence of chords or notes. Those can add two more controls:
- Play. Starts and pauses the progression. The small arrow beside it opens more options: repeat, tempo, and stepping through the sequence.
- Zoom to the chord. For large fretboard diagrams you can zoom in to the currently voiced notes. The window follows the music, framing each chord as it plays. Tap again to see the whole diagram at once.
A button that appears after you tap
- Clear taps. As soon as you've tapped and changed a shape, this red button appears. Tap it to undo your taps and bring back the diagram's original notes.
The settings drawer
The settings button () opens a drawer with more ways to tailor the diagram. Its settings come in two kinds, and the two behave differently. An About link in the corner of the drawer brings you back to this page whenever you need it.
Display settings stick around
These control how the fretboard looks, and your choices are saved. Set them once and they carry across every diagram, and they're still there the next time you visit:
- Orientation. Vertical, horizontal, or auto, which adapts to your device.
- Theme. The fretboard's appearance: light wood, dark wood, plain, or auto to follow the site's light or dark mode.
- Sound. The same on-and-off switch as the toolbar button.
A diagram's own settings are temporary
These change what the current diagram shows. They apply to that one diagram, and they reset when you reload the page:
- Colors. Turn the interval colors on or off, or color just the root of the chord.
- Labels. Mark the notes with interval numbers, with note names, or leave them blank.
- Interval perspective. Name the intervals relative to the key, or relative to the chord being played.
- Key. See and hear the same shape in a different key.
Not every diagram offers all four; only the ones that suit each particular diagram.
Reset to defaults
At the bottom of the drawer, Reset to defaults returns the settings shown there to their starting values. It asks you to confirm first, so there's no wiping things out by accident.