About Piano Chord Geek
A reference site for piano chords, built so every chord is generated from music theory rules rather than typed in one at a time.
Most chord charts are assembled by hand, which is exactly how small mistakes slip in: a wrong flat here, an inconsistent spelling there. This site takes a different approach. A small set of interval formulas, the same ones printed in any music theory book, get applied to each of the twelve root notes through a letter-based spelling algorithm. If the formulas are right, every chord built from them is right too, whether it's the first one generated or the four-hundredth.
Right now the site holds all 348 chords it currently knows how to build, twelve roots across every defined chord type. Adding a new chord family later is a matter of writing one more formula, not retyping hundreds of individual chords.
What each chord page includes
- A keyboard diagram with the correct keys highlighted, root note in brass, other chord tones in wine red
- Playback through a small built-in synthesizer, as a block chord, arpeggiated, or one note at a time
- The chord's formula and actual notes
- Every inversion, and drop 2 / drop 3 voicings for chords of four notes or more
- A downloadable MIDI file and a save button for your own list of favorites
- A short explanation of how the chord is built and where it tends to show up musically
- Links to related chords worth comparing by ear
Beyond individual chords
- Chord progressions, common patterns realized in real keys
- Scales and key signatures, with the diatonic chords that belong to each
- The circle of fifths, as a clickable diagram
- A reverse chord finder, click notes to identify the chord they form
- A printable cheat sheet for every root, linked from each root's chord list
Sources
Chord formulas were cross-checked against multiple independent music theory references before being added to the site, rather than relying on a single source or memory alone.