Part of our guide to getting the chords to any song.
A chord symbol looks cryptic until you see the pattern: it reads left to right, one piece at a time, and each piece answers a single question. What is the root? Is it major or minor? Are there extra notes stacked on top? Is there a special note in the bass? Once you can read those four pieces, you can play from a chart for almost any song, whether you found it online or pulled it from a recording. Here is how to read chord symbols, from plain triads up to sevenths, extensions, suspensions, and slash chords.
The anatomy of a chord symbol
Every chord symbol is read left to right in the same order: the root note, then the quality, then any extensions, then an optional bass note after a slash. Take C, Am, Cmaj7, G7, Dm7, and F/A as a set. The root comes first and is always a letter from A to G, with an optional sharp or flat (so Bb and F# are roots too). The quality follows: a bare letter like C means a major triad, while m or min means minor, so Am is A minor. After that come any stacked notes (the 7 in G7, the 7 in Dm7), and finally a slash with a bass note, as in F/A. Reading a chart is mostly just doing this for one symbol after another, which is the same skill described in what a chord chart is.
Triads and seventh chords
The quality after the root tells you the chord type. A bare letter is a major triad. The letter m or min means minor. The label dim, or a small degree sign, means diminished, and aug or a plus sign means augmented. Sevenths add one more note, and the spelling matters: maj7 is a major seventh, a plain 7 is a dominant seventh, m7 is a minor seventh, dim7 is a diminished seventh, and m7b5 (also written with a slashed circle and called half-diminished) takes a minor seventh and lowers the fifth. The key contrast to lock in is Cmaj7 versus C7. Cmaj7 has a major seventh, the note B over a C root, and sounds settled, while C7 has a flat (dominant) seventh, Bb over C, and sounds tense and wants to move. That single character changes the whole feel.
Extensions, sus, and add
Beyond the seventh, numbers keep stacking. The extensions 9, 11, and 13 imply the seventh beneath them, so a C9 already includes the dominant seventh on the way up. A 6, by contrast, simply adds the sixth. Suspensions replace the third instead of adding to it: sus4 swaps the third for the fourth, and sus2 swaps it for the second, which is why a sus chord sounds open and unresolved. The label add is different again. add9 adds the ninth without adding the seventh, so it is not the same as a 9 chord. Finally, alterations raise or lower one specific tone: b5, #5, b9, #9, and #11 each shift a single note, as in the gritty-sounding 7#9. None of this changes the reading order; the extras simply hang off the right side of the symbol.
Slash chords, and where charts come from
The last piece is the slash. A slash chord names the bass note after the slash: C/E is a C chord with E in the bass, and G/B is a G chord with B in the bass. The chord quality is unchanged, so G/B is still G major; only the lowest note differs. Players use slash chords to build smooth bass lines that step from one chord to the next instead of jumping. All of this assumes the chart is correct in the first place, which is where the chord came from matters. Rather than guessing or trusting a possibly-wrong tab, you can get an accurate chord chart by transcribing the recording with Songscription, which writes out the harmony from the audio so the symbols you are reading match the actual song. The full process is in how to get the chords to any song, and a chart with melody on top becomes a lead sheet.
Get an accurate chord chart from the song
Upload a recording and Songscription writes out the chords and key from the audio, so the symbols you read match the real song instead of a guessed tab. The free tier is enough to chart your first song.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does a chord symbol tell you?
A chord symbol packs a whole chord into a few characters, read left to right: the root note, then the quality, then any extensions, then an optional bass note after a slash. The root is a letter from A to G with an optional sharp or flat. The quality tells you whether the chord is major, minor, diminished, or augmented, and the extensions and slash add color or change the bass note. So C is a C major triad, Am is an A minor triad, and F/A is an F chord with A in the bass.
What is the difference between Cmaj7 and C7?
The difference is which seventh sits on top. Cmaj7 has a major seventh, the note B over a C root, which gives it a soft, settled sound. C7 has a plain 7, which means a dominant seventh, the flat seventh Bb over the C root, which sounds tense and wants to resolve. So maj7 always means the major seventh, while a bare 7 always means the dominant (flatted) seventh. That one character changes the whole feel of the chord.
What does a slash chord like G/B mean?
A slash chord names the bass note after the slash. G/B means a G chord with B in the bass, and C/E means a C chord with E in the bass. The chord quality is unchanged, so a G/B is still a G major chord; only the lowest note differs. Players use slash chords to create smooth bass lines, where the bottom note steps from one chord to the next instead of jumping.
What does sus mean in a chord symbol?
Sus is short for suspended, and it means the chord replaces its third with another note. A sus4 swaps the third for the fourth, and a sus2 swaps it for the second. Because the third is what makes a chord sound major or minor, a sus chord sounds open and unresolved, often pulling back toward the plain chord. This is different from add, where add9 adds the ninth on top without removing the third or the seventh.
The best way to practice reading symbols is on a real song. Upload a recording with Songscription and get an accurate chord chart from the audio.
