# Printable Guitar Chords Chart (PDF) — How to Use It
> Print the free guitar chords chart as a PDF, then learn how to read it — open chords, moveable shapes and the fastest way to use the chart in a song.
A chord chart is the guitarist's map. Whether you are learning your first three
chords or hunting for a voicing you have never played, one well-organised chart
replaces an entire book.

Prefer paper on the music stand?
[Download the full chart as a printable PDF](/guitar-chords-chart.pdf) — 36
essential chords across three A4 pages, from the open C, G and D shapes to the
barre forms of F and B. Print it, pin it above the desk, and tick chords off as
they land under your fingers. Need empty boxes to write your own shapes into?
[Blank chord charts and TAB paper](/tools/blank-chord-charts) print straight
from the browser.

## What is in the chart

The 36 chords are grouped by root note, four to seven per root, in the order
you are most likely to meet them:

| Root | Chords in the chart | Count |
| --- | --- | --- |
| C | C, Cm, C7, Cmaj7 | 4 |
| D | D, Dm, D7, Dmaj7, Dm7, Dsus4, Dsus2 | 7 |
| E | E, Em, E7, Emaj7, Em7, Esus4 | 6 |
| F | F, Fm, F7, Fmaj7 | 4 |
| G | G, Gm, G7, Gmaj7, Gsus4 | 5 |
| A | A, Am, A7, Amaj7, Am7, Asus4, Asus2 | 7 |
| B | B, Bm, B7 | 3 |

The layout is deliberately twelve cards per page, three columns by four rows.
That is small enough to print on one sheet and large enough that the diagrams
stay readable at arm's length on a music stand.

## How to print it properly

1. **Open the PDF and choose your paper size.** The chart is laid out for A4; on US Letter choose "fit to page" rather than "actual size" so nothing is clipped.
2. **Do not scale up.** The diagrams are vector-sharp at 100%, and enlarging them past A4 pushes the last row onto a fourth page.
3. **Black and white is fine.** The diagrams carry their meaning in line weight and filled dots, not colour, so a mono printer loses nothing.
4. **Print one page at a time if you are laminating.** Three single sheets on a stand beat one double-sided sheet you have to flip mid-song.

## How to read the diagrams

Every diagram on this site follows the same convention:

- **Vertical lines = strings.** Left to right: E (low), A, D, G, B, E (high).
- **Horizontal lines = frets.** The thick top line is the nut; a number beside the diagram shows the starting fret when the shape moves up the neck.
- **Dots = fingers.** The number inside the dot tells you which finger to use (1 = index).
- **X = don't play that string.** O = play it open.
- **A bar over several strings = one finger frets them all** (a barre).

The [full guide to reading chord charts](/guides/read-chord-charts) walks
through a diagram dot by dot, including the position marker that tells you a
shape has moved up the neck.

## The essential chart: open chords

The open-position chords — C, A, G, E, D and their minor forms Am, Em, Dm —
use open strings and stay within the first three frets. They are the heart of
the beginner chart and appear in the diagram wall above.

Nine shapes out of 36 carry most of the songs you will play in your first year.
If you want a learning order rather than a reference list, the
[basic chords guide](/guides/basic-guitar-chords) sequences them by finger count
and stretch.

## Moveable shapes: one chart, every key

Barre chords are shapes with no open strings, so the whole pattern slides up
and down the neck. The E-shape (root on the low E string) and A-shape (root
on the A string) give you every major, minor and seventh chord in existence
from just two forms. Learn the shapes at fret 1 (F) and fret 2 (B) and the
rest of the neck is the same shape moved up.

This is the part a printed chart cannot fully capture, because it is a
relationship rather than a list. The [major chords guide](/guides/major-chords)
has the full fret map: which fret of which shape produces all 12 major chords,
and the [barre chords guide](/guides/barre-chords) covers getting them clean.

## Three ways to actually use the chart

**As a learning checklist.** Work down one root at a time. Play each chord,
check every string rings, and mark the ones that need work. A chord you can
fret but cannot change into does not count as learned, so tick it only once it
appears in a song you can play through.

**As a songwriting reference.** When a progression sounds stuck, the chart is a
menu of substitutions: swap the plain major for its maj7, or the minor for its
sus4, and the same progression changes colour without changing function. The
[chord progression generator](/tools/chord-progression-generator) will play the
result back before you commit to it.

**As a decoding tool.** Hear something on a record and cannot name it? The
[chord identifier](/tools/chord-identifier) takes the frets you are playing and
names the chord, which is the chart read backwards.

## Where the chart stops helping

36 chords is a reference, not a vocabulary. Two limits are worth knowing about
early:

- **It has no inversions.** Every chord is shown in its most common position. The same chord higher up the neck sounds different and is often easier to reach from where your hand already is.
- **It has no voice leading.** Knowing the shapes is not the same as knowing which shape to reach for next. That comes from playing songs, which is why every chord page on this site ends with the real songs that use it.

## The full reference

For the complete library — all 12 roots, major, minor, seventh, suspended,
sixth, diminished, augmented and power chords — browse the
[chord dictionary](/chords). The chords you will actually play have their own
page with step-by-step fingerings, every position up the neck and the songs that
use them; the rarer shapes are grouped into family pages where all twelve roots
can be compared side by side.
## FAQ
### What is a guitar chord chart?
A guitar chord chart is a grid of chord diagrams — vertical lines for the six strings, horizontal lines for the frets — showing where to place your fingers for each chord.
### What are the 7 basic guitar chords?
The seven most common basic chords are C, A, G, E, D, Am and Em. Add F and B barre shapes and you can play in every key.
### How do you read a guitar chord chart?
Read it like the guitar is standing upright in front of you: the leftmost vertical line is the low E string, the rightmost is the high E. Dots show where fingers go, X means mute the string, O means play it open, and a number beside the top fret shows the starting fret.
### Are there printable guitar chord charts?
Yes — this page prints cleanly (use your browser's print dialog), and the full chart is also available as a three-page A4 PDF with 36 chords.
### How many chords are in the printable chart?
36 chords across three A4 pages, grouped by root note. Each root gets its major, minor and seventh shapes, and the most common roots also get major 7th, minor 7th and suspended forms.
### Should I print the chord chart in colour or black and white?
Black and white prints perfectly — the diagrams use solid dots and line weight rather than colour to carry meaning, so nothing is lost on a mono printer or when the page is photocopied.
Canonical page: https://openguitarchords.com/guides/guitar-chords-chart