Guitar Chord Key Chart

Below is a guitar chord key chart the major and minor keys. A chord key chart outlines the diatonic chords, or the chords that naturally occur in a given key. Guitar key charts are useful when trying to figure out the key of a song. If you know the chords of a song, you can list them out and compare them to the chords in the chart to help determine the key.

These guitar key charts can also be used as a reference to help guide chord selection and substitution. This is particularly useful when writing your own chord progressions.

In addition to the charts below, a really useful reference is the Guitar Key Guide. It’s based on the circle of fifths and gives you the scale patterns and chords for all major and minor keys. It’s useful for songwriters choosing chords for a progression or those interested in learning more about chord and key theory.

Major Keys Guitar Chord Chart

The guitar key chart below describes the chords belonging to the major keys. The top row of the chart lists the intervals and qualities of the chord.

Uppercase numerals represent major chords while lowercase represent minor chords.

Download the Guitar Chord Keys Chart for the Major Keys PDF

* The vi (6th) interval of a major key is the relative minor key. The relative major/minor keys share the same key signature and chords, only the intervals are re-numbered to reflect the minor root. Read more about relative major and minor keys.

Minor Keys Guitar Chord Chart

The key chord chart below lists out the chords for the minor keys. Again, the top row represents the interval for each chord.

Download the Guitar Chord Key Chart for the Minor Keys PDF

* The III (3rd) interval of a minor key is the relative major key. The relative major/minor keys share the same key signature and chords, only the intervals are re-numbered to reflect the minor root. Read more about relative major and minor keys.

Determining the Chords of a Key

Chords of a given key are built from the scale of the key center. For instance, chords in the key of C major are built from the C major scale. The chord and chord quality is determined by the intervals between the notes in a scale.

To learn more about how chords in a key are made, check out the lesson Major Scale Chords.  It’ll walk you through the steps of creating the major and minor chords of a key.

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Cheat Sheet: Guitar Chord Key Chart

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