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Reverse chord lookup

Ukulele Chord Namer

Built a chord shape on your ukulele and want to know what it's called? Tap the fretboard below to map out your shape. The UkuTabs chord namer instantly identifies the chord, lists its notes and intervals, flags slash chords when the bass note isn't the root, and shows alternate spellings when more than one name fits. Works across standard high-G, low-G, baritone (DGBE), and D-tuning, mirrors for left-handed players, and plays the chord back so you can confirm by ear.

Tap a shape on the fretboard, see the chord name. Slash-chord aware, all four tunings, lefty mode, audio + share link included.

Features
  • 100% free
  • Click-to-name
  • Slash chords
  • 4 tunings
  • Audio playback
Tuning
Lefthanded

Try a chord shape

Common shapes to load onto the fretboard with one click. Tap a card to set the strings, then click the fretboard to tweak. Each shape is shown as a fret pattern reading left to right in standard tab order: G C E A. The G string sits at the bottom of the horizontal fretboard above and at the left of the portrait mini diagram in the result panel. x = muted, 0 = open.

How chord naming works

A chord's name comes from three things: its root note (the home pitch), the intervals stacked above the root, and whether a different note sits in the bass. The namer looks at the unique pitch classes you played, tries every one as a candidate root, and checks the stack against every chord pattern it knows. Hover any card below for the deeper context.

Triad
3-note chordRoot + 3rd + 5th
7th
4-note chordTriad + seventh on top
Slash
Chord with a bass notelike C/G, Am/E
Same
Same notes, two namese.g. C6 / Am7
Sus
Suspended (sus2 / sus4)Third swapped for 2nd or 4th
Add
Added-note chordTriad + 9 (or 11, 13)
dim
DiminishedStack of minor thirds
aug
AugmentedTriad with a raised 5th
5
Power chordRoot + 5th only
Inv
InversionSame chord, different bass
Ext
Extended chord7th + 9, 11, or 13
∅
No matchNot every set has a name

How to read a ukulele chord diagram

Annotated ukulele chord chart showing finger positions for an A major chord

A ukulele chord diagram is a top-down picture of the first four or five frets of the neck. The four vertical lines represent the four strings. In standard tuning, reading left to right, those are G, C, E, and A. The horizontal lines are the frets, and the thick bar across the top is the nut, the piece of bone or plastic that separates the open strings from the fretted positions.

Dots show where to press your fingers, and the number inside each dot tells you which finger to use: 1 for index, 2 for middle, 3 for ring, and 4 for pinky. A hollow circle above a string means play that string open with no finger touching it. An × means mute the string or skip it entirely when you strum.

If a number appears next to the diagram (for example 5fr), the diagram is shifted up the neck and the top fret shown is actually the fifth fret rather than the first. That's how higher-position and barre chords get drawn without forcing a long, thin diagram.

The example pictured here is an A major chord. Press the G string at the second fret with your middle finger and the C string at the first fret with your index finger. The little o symbols on the E and A strings tell you to let those ring open. For a longer walkthrough with audio, see the how to read ukulele chord diagrams guide.

Frequently asked questions

Short answers to the questions ukulele players ask most about the chord namer.

How does the ukulele chord namer work?

Click any cell on the interactive fretboard to set a fret on that string. The tool reads the notes you're playing (one per string, plus open and muted states), figures out which chord those notes spell, and shows you the name. If more than one chord matches the same notes (for example C6 and Am7 share the same four notes), the tool ranks them by which is most likely and lists the alternates underneath.

What's a slash chord and how do you detect one?

A slash chord is one where the lowest played note isn't the root. C/G means a C major chord with G in the bass. The namer compares the lowest-pitched note you played against the chord's root: if they match, you see the simple name (C). If they don't, you see the slash form (C/G). Slash chords often come up when a player adds the open G string of a high-G ukulele to a chord rooted somewhere else on the neck.

Why does my chord show two names?

Several distinct chord types share the same notes. The classic example: C, E, G, A is both C6 (a C major chord with a sixth added) and Am7 (an A minor seventh). Which one is correct depends on the musical context. The namer's primary name is the one whose root is in the bass (so if A is the lowest note, you'll see Am7 first; if C is the lowest, C6 wins). The alternates are listed below so you can pick the spelling that fits your songbook.

What's the difference between open (O), muted (X), and fretted strings?

Open means the string rings without any finger on it (fret 0). Muted means the string is silenced by a finger touching it without pressing down, so it doesn't sound at all. Fretted means you press the string down at a specific fret. Above the fretboard there's a small chip for each string showing its current state. Click the chip to toggle open / muted; click a fret on the fretboard to set the string to a specific fret.

What tunings does the chord namer support?

Standard high-G (g-C-E-A), low-G (G-C-E-A), baritone (D-G-B-E), and D-tuning (a-D-F♯-B). When you switch tuning, the same fret pattern will name a different chord, because the open-string pitches change. To hear each tuning and tune your own instrument, try the online ukulele tuner.

Can I share a chord shape with someone?

Yes. Click the Share button and the page URL is copied to your clipboard. The link encodes the fret pattern, tuning, and handedness, so anyone who opens it sees the exact same fretboard with the same chord identified.

How do I switch to left-handed mode?

Toggle the lefthanded switch above the fretboard. The diagram mirrors instantly: the G string moves to the right and the A string to the left, matching what a left-handed player sees looking down at their own ukulele.

How do I hear the chord I built?

Once the namer has identified your chord (or even if it hasn't), the Strum and Arpeggio buttons play the notes you selected. Strum plays all the notes at once with a tiny stagger, like a real strum. Arpeggio plays them one at a time. The audio uses Karplus-Strong synthesis (the classic plucked-string algorithm) and runs entirely in your browser.

Why does the namer sometimes say "no standard chord matches"?

Most random combinations of notes aren't named chords in Western music theory. If the namer can't find a match, try muting one of the strings (often the high or low note is the odd one out), or shift a finger by one fret. The decoder section above explains which notes need to be present for a triad, a seventh, a suspended chord, and so on.

What chord families does the namer recognise?

Every chord type the engine knows: triads (major, minor, augmented, diminished), sevenths (dominant, minor, major, diminished, half-diminished), sixths (6, m6, 6/9), suspended (sus2, sus4, 7sus2, 7sus4), ninths (9, m9, maj9), and added-tone shapes (5, add9, madd9). Rarer chords like 11ths, 13ths, and altered dominants are recognised too, but the namer prefers the simpler match when more than one applies.

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