HelpCalc Music
Name the chord under your fingers, move a song into your singer's key, map a scale on your neck, and practice to a click. No signup.
The Wall
For guitar, bass and other fretted players
Guitars, amps and pedals in daylight
The Piano Room
For pianists, singers, students and teachers
Ivory, ebony and sheet music
Guides
Worked examples for CAGED, naming chords, keys and capos. Read the guides →
About HelpCalc Music
These tools work the way a band talks: notes spelled as a chart spells them, tunings at real pitch, and the same names you would write on a chart. Each door above leads to a room of tools for one kind of player.
How we check the music
Spelling follows the chord or scale. Each note takes the letter its function calls for, so a C minor chord has Eb and not D#. With no key to go on, the tool picks the easier name, such as Db major or C# minor. Scales that don't have seven notes use plain names, with no double sharps or flats.
Tuning is A440. Open strings: guitar E2 A2 D3 G3 B3 E4, bass E1 A1 D2 G2, 5-string bass B0, ukulele G4 C4 E4 A4, banjo G4 D3 G3 B3 D4, mandolin G3 D4 A4 E5, 7-string B1, 8-string F#1.
The staff shows guitar, bass and banjo an octave above where they sound, as their music is written. Ukulele, mandolin and piano are shown at sounding pitch.
Mandolin courses count as one note each. Chord names come from the notes sounding and the lowest note, so a chord with no root can read as a different chord. On ukulele, banjo and mandolin the headline is the plain chord name, and the lowest note gets its own line. An open banjo 5th string, the high drone, stays out of the name. Its own line gives the note and whether it's in the chord.
Chord formulas, scales and spellings are covered by automated tests. If a name looks wrong to you, tell us with a link to the chord. Use Copy link, then send it through our contact form.
Do I need an account to use these tools?
No. Every music tool is free and works without a signup.
What are the rooms?
Each room is a look for the site, and a group of tools. Opening a tool from a room's door shows the tool in that room's colors. You can pick a different look at any time from the picker in the header.
Which tool should I use?
To name a chord you are playing, use a chord identifier: there are ones for guitar, bass, ukulele, banjo, mandolin, 7-string and 8-string guitar, and piano. To move a song to a new key, use the Chord Transposer. To see the notes of a scale on your instrument, use the Scale Explorer. To keep time while you practice, use the Online Metronome.