See Your Scales and Chords on the Guitar Fretboard

The Interactive Chord Finder has always shown scale notes and chord tones on a two-octave piano keyboard. That works well if you think in terms of keys, but guitarists think in terms of fret positions and string patterns. Starting today, you can switch to a guitar fretboard view that maps the same musical information across six strings and fifteen frets.

How to Use It

Below the scale selector you will find a small Piano | Guitar toggle. Click Guitar to switch. Your choice is remembered between sessions, so the tool opens in whichever view you used last.

The fretboard displays standard tuning (E A D G B E) with the high E string at the top and the low E at the bottom, matching the way tablature is read. Fret numbers run along the bottom, and inlay dots mark frets 3, 5, 7, 9, 12, and 15 just like a real guitar neck.

Scale Map

When you select a key and scale, every position on the fretboard where a scale note falls is marked with a small dot. Root notes are slightly larger and shown in the primary colour, while other scale notes appear in a softer shade. There are no text labels cluttering the view — the dots form a visual pattern that guitarists will recognise as scale shapes.

You can click any dot to hear the note. This is a quick way to explore how a scale sounds across different positions on the neck.

Chord Voicings

Click a chord in the chord table and the fretboard shows a single playable voicing rather than highlighting every possible position of every chord tone. The voicing algorithm picks a fingering based on several factors:

• Four-fret span — all fretted notes fall within a comfortable hand stretch
• Root in the bass — bass strings that do not carry the root note are muted, giving the chord a strong foundation
• Note coverage — the voicing tries to include as many distinct chord tones as possible
• Low position preference — open and low-fret voicings are preferred when they cover the chord well

The result is a practical chord shape you can actually play. The selected voicing appears as large labelled dots with an orange glow, while the scale dots dim into the background so the chord shape stands out clearly.

Capo Support

If you set a capo in the Transpose section, the fretboard responds. A capo bar appears across all six strings at the chosen fret, and everything behind it is greyed out. Fret numbers shift so that the capo position becomes the new zero. The voicing algorithm also respects the capo, only suggesting fingerings at or above the capo fret.

Switching Back

The piano view is still the default and works exactly as before. The toggle sits below the instrument display, aligned to the right, so it stays out of the way. Switching between views is instant — your selected key, scale, and any highlighted chord carry over.

Try It Now

Head to the Interactive Chord Finder, pick a scale, toggle to Guitar, and click a chord. You will see a clean fretboard with a single voicing ready to play.