Fretboard: notes, scales and chords
Find the notes on the bass or guitar fretboard, show any scale or chord, get chord diagrams and arpeggios, and practise with the quiz. Click the fretboard to hear the notes.
Click a fret to hear it and see where the same note sits elsewhere on the fretboard.
One line per group of bars; “|” separates bars, two chords in a bar share its beats. [Chorus] or “Chorus:” for a section, “%” to repeat a bar, “x2” at the end of a line to play it twice, N.C. for no chord. Chords as C D E (Am, G7, F#m7b5) or Do Ré Mi (Lam, Sol7), bass note after “/” (C/E).
What does this tool do?
- Fretboard notes: every note on the bass (4, 5 or 6 strings), guitar (6 or 7 strings) or ukulele, in the chosen tuning, as C D E or Do Ré Mi.
- Scales: major, minor (natural, harmonic, melodic), pentatonic, blues, modes (Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian, Locrian), whole tone, diminished, bebop… over the whole neck or in a 5-fret position, with the step pattern and the chords of the scale.
- Chords: 28 chord types, from triads to 13th chords. For guitar and ukulele, playable diagrams are computed for the chosen tuning; for bass, arpeggios are shown in position, with the root on each low string.
- Chord finder: place your fingers on the fretboard and the tool names the chord (inversions included).
- Quiz: find a note on the fretboard, or name the highlighted note, with score and response time.
- Song chart: type or paste a song's chord chart; the tool lays it out in bars, finds its key and degrees, transposes it with correct spelling, suggests a capo, plays it at your tempo and shows each chord on the fretboard.
Frequently asked questions
How do I learn the notes on the bass fretboard?
Start with the open strings (E A D G) and the 12th fret, which gives the same notes one octave higher. Then remember that the 5th fret of a string gives the next string's note, and the 7th fret gives the fifth. The quiz, set to frets 0 to 5 and natural notes, is a good daily few-minute workout.
How do I transpose a chord chart?
Paste the chart in the “Song chart” tab, then move it up or down by semitones, or pick the key directly. Every chord moves by the same interval, with correct spelling (E♭ major uses A♭, not G♯). The suggested capo keeps easy chord shapes on guitar.
Why F♯ and not G♭?
In a scale, each letter appears once: D major is D E F♯ G A B C♯, not G♭. The tool spells notes as in sheet music. For fretboard notes with no key, choose sharps or flats.
What do the colours mean?
Red: root; orange: third; blue: fifth; purple: seventh; grey: other notes. Pick “Intervals” to read 1, ♭3, 5, ♭7… instead of note names.
See also: the online tuner and the bass rhythm trainer.
Learning the fretboard in five steps
- Landmarks: open strings, frets 5, 7 and 12. The 12th fret gives the open-string notes an octave higher.
- The 5th-fret rule: on guitar and bass, the 5th fret of a string gives the next open string's note (except on guitar between G and B, where it is the 4th).
- Octave shapes: a note reappears two strings up and two frets along. With this pattern, every note you know reveals others.
- Natural notes first: in the quiz, tick “natural notes only” and a single string, then widen to the whole neck.
- Daily habit: five minutes of timed quiz a day. Once your answers take under 2 seconds, add sharps and flats.
Formulas worth knowing
- Major scale: whole, whole, half, whole, whole, whole, half (C D E F G A B).
- Natural minor: whole, half, whole, whole, half, whole, whole (A B C D E F G).
- Minor pentatonic: 1, ♭3, 4, 5, ♭7, the scale of blues and rock solos; the blues scale adds the ♯4.
- Chords: major 1-3-5, minor 1-♭3-5, dominant seventh 1-3-5-♭7, major seventh 1-3-5-7, minor seventh 1-♭3-5-♭7, half-diminished 1-♭3-♭5-♭7.
Show labels as “intervals” rather than note names: you then see each scale's or chord's shape, which stays the same in every key.
Example: transposing a chord chart
Paste the chart | C | G | Am | F |: the tool detects C major and the I–V–vi–IV degrees, the progression behind hundreds of pop songs. Transpose by +2 to sing it in D: | D | A | Bm | G |. To keep easy chord shapes, the tool also suggests a capo: in E♭, for example, capo 1 with D shapes.
Export and sharing
- The fretboard and chord diagrams export as SVG (perfect print quality) or PNG, and can be printed.
- The share link keeps instrument, tuning and display: ideal for sending a scale to a student.
- Left-handed mode and “low string on top” adapt the display to the way you read.
To check your tuning before playing, use the tuner; to train your ear for intervals, try ear training.
Guide written and checked by Erwan Hautot · updated 3 November 2026.