How to find the chords of a song from a recording

Chord charts online are often wrong, simplified, or in a different key from the recording you love. The most reliable source for a song’s chords is the recording itself. A free online chord finder can estimate them for you, and with a few checks by ear you can trust what you play.

How a chord finder works

Noteform finds chords in two steps. First it detects the individual notes in the recording using Polyphonic mode. Then it groups the notes sounding together over time and compares them with chord shapes to pick the best match. That means the chord names are only as good as the detected notes, which is why you can correct notes and then recompute the chords.

The chord types it recognises are:

• major and minor triads, such as C and Am;
• diminished and augmented triads, such as Bdim and Caug;
• suspended chords, sus2 and sus4;
• seventh chords: dominant 7 (G7), major 7 (Cmaj7), minor 7 (Am7), half-diminished (Bm7♭5) and diminished 7 (Bdim7).

When the lowest note is steady and isn’t the root, the chord is written as a slash chord, like F/A, meaning an F chord with A in the bass. Extensions such as 9ths, 11ths and 13ths aren’t named.

Step by step

1. Load the song: upload an audio file, or play it in another tab and use Record tab audio.
2. Select a verse or chorus. Shorter sections are quicker and easier to check.
3. Choose Polyphonic mode and press Transcribe.
4. Open the Chords tab. Each row shows a chord with its start and end time. Press play and the current chord is highlighted as the song plays.

Reading the chord list

• A chord name is the best match for the notes in that stretch of time.
• Alternatives, shown after “or”, are other chords that fit almost as well, usually because they share most of their notes: C and Am share C and E, for example.
• Uncertain regions are marked with a ? and list the chords they “could be”. The finder couldn’t choose between them, so let your ear decide.
• No chord means fewer than three notes were sounding together, such as a single-note riff or a bass line on its own.

Checking chords by ear

Play each chord along with the recording, using Loop selection on a short range. Listen for clashes. If it sounds wrong:

• Check the bass. The bass note often decides between two similar chords. C with E in the bass is C/E, not Em.
• Check major or minor. Look for the third of the chord in the Notes tab: E makes a C chord major; E♭ makes it minor.
• Look for melody notes. A sung note that doesn’t belong to the chord can tip the match. If a passing melody note turned C into Csus4, it’s probably still C.
• Edit the label. Type the correct chord name over the estimate. Your label is kept, and recomputing chords asks before replacing anything you typed.

Common progressions to recognise

Many songs reuse a small number of progressions. Spotting them makes checking much faster. In the key of C:

• C – G – Am – F: the “four chord” progression behind countless pop songs.
• C – Am – F – G: the classic 1950s progression.
• Am – F – C – G: the same four chords starting from the minor chord.
• Dm7 – G7 – Cmaj7: the ii–V–I at the heart of jazz harmony.

If the finder shows three chords of one of these patterns and something odd in the fourth place, check that fourth chord carefully. The pattern is often right.

Exporting your chords

Download TXT saves a text file with every chord and its start and end time, after the full list of notes. Choose sharps or flats first so the chord names suit the key: a song in E♭ reads more naturally as E♭, A♭ and B♭ than D♯, G♯ and A♯.

Want the melody too? See how to find what notes are being played in a song.