How to Read Chord Symbols

Updated: 2026-10-23

A chord symbol is a short code that tells you which notes to play, not how to play them. “Cmaj7” over a bar of a lead sheet means: build a chord from the notes C, E, G and B, and voice it however suits your instrument and the song. A pianist might spread it across two hands; a guitarist might play a four-string shape at the third fret. Both are reading the same symbol correctly.

Chord symbols look like a jumble of letters and numbers, but they follow a small set of rules. Learn about ten building blocks and you can read nearly any chord in a pop songbook, a fake book or a church band chart. This guide goes through them in order, from plain triads to half-diminished chords and slash chords.

The root: the letter at the front

Every chord symbol starts with a capital letter from A to G, sometimes followed by a sharp (♯ or #) or a flat (♭ or b). That letter is the root: the note the chord is built on and named after. C, F♯ and B♭ are all roots.

In US and UK charts, the letter B always means B natural. Charts from Germany, Austria, Poland and Czechia write H for B natural and B for B♭, so a German “B7” is what an American player would call B♭7. If you play from European sheet music, check which system it uses before the first rehearsal.

In France, Italy, Spain and much of Latin America, chord roots are often written with Do-Re-Mi names: Do for C, Re for D, Sol for G and so on, so “Rem” is D minor. Brazilian musicians mostly use the same letters as US charts and call the system cifra. In the US, Do-Re-Mi is usually a movable system for singing, and charts use letters.

Major and minor triads

A letter alone means a major triad: the root, the major 3rd above it (4 half steps up) and the perfect 5th (7 half steps up). C means C, E and G. G means G, B and D.

A lowercase m after the letter means minor: the 3rd drops by one half step. Cm is C, E♭ and G. Am is A, C and E. You will also see Cmin and C− for the same chord. The minus sign is common in jazz charts.

Two more triads complete the set. Cdim (also written C°) is diminished: root, minor 3rd and diminished 5th, so C, E♭, G♭. Caug (also C+) is augmented: root, major 3rd and augmented 5th, so C, E, G♯. In C major, the seven triads built on the notes of the scale are these:

This pattern is the same in every major key: major chords on degrees I, IV and V, minor chords on ii, iii and vi, and a diminished chord on vii. In G major that gives G, Am, Bm, C, D, Em and F♯dim. Once you know the pattern, you can predict most of the chords in a pop song from its key.

Sevenths: 7, maj7 and m7

A number 7 adds a fourth note, a 7th above the root. The tricky part is that a plain 7 and maj7 add different 7ths:

• C7 (dominant 7th) adds the minor 7th, 10 half steps above the root: C, E, G, B♭. It sounds bluesy and unresolved and usually leads to the chord a 5th below, here F.
• Cmaj7 (major 7th) adds the major 7th, 11 half steps above the root: C, E, G, B. It sounds soft and open. Charts also write CM7, CΔ7 or just CΔ.
• Cm7 (minor 7th) is a minor triad plus the minor 7th: C, E♭, G, B♭. Also written Cmin7 or C−7.
• Cm(maj7) is a minor triad plus the major 7th: C, E♭, G, B. It is rare in pop but common in jazz and film music.

The rule to remember: a 7 on its own always means the minor 7th. You only get the major 7th when the symbol says maj, M or Δ. So in a symbol, “maj” describes the 7th, not the triad. Cm(maj7) has a minor triad with a major 7th.

Diminished and half-diminished

These two names are easy to mix up because they share three notes.

• Cm7b5, the half-diminished chord, is C, E♭, G♭, B♭: a diminished triad with a minor 7th. Jazz charts often write it Cø or Cø7. In a major key it is the chord on the 7th degree: in C major that is Bm7b5 (B, D, F, A).
• Cdim7, the full diminished 7th, is C, E♭, G♭, B𝄫. B𝄫 (B double flat) sounds the same as A on the piano. Every note is 3 half steps above the one before, so the chord divides the octave into four equal parts. Charts also write C°7.

A quick check: if the symbol has an ø or says m7b5, the top note is B♭ (for a C root). If it has a ° with a 7 or says dim7, the top note is B𝄫, the same key as A.

Sus, add and extensions

These symbols change or add notes on top of a triad.

• sus4 replaces the 3rd with the 4th: Csus4 is C, F, G. sus2 replaces it with the 2nd: Csus2 is C, D, G. Neither chord has a 3rd, so neither is major or minor. A plain “sus” almost always means sus4.
• 7sus4 adds the minor 7th to a sus4 chord: C7sus4 is C, F, G, B♭. It is common in gospel, soul and modern pop.
• add9 adds the 9th, which is the 2nd an octave higher, and keeps the 3rd: Cadd9 is C, E, G, D. There is no 7th. Some guitar charts write C2 for nearly the same sound.
• 6 adds the major 6th: C6 is C, E, G, A. Cm6 is C, E♭, G, A.
• 9, 11 and 13 are extensions. A plain 9 includes the minor 7th: C9 is C, E, G, B♭, D. Cmaj9 has the major 7th instead: C, E, G, B, D.
• 5 means a power chord with only the root and 5th: C5 is C and G. No 3rd, so it suits distorted guitar.

Alterations come after the number: C7♭9, C7♯9, C7♯11. The 9th, 11th or 13th is raised or lowered by a half step. Jimi Hendrix's “Purple Haze” is a familiar example of a 7♯9 chord, E7♯9, which is why players sometimes call it the Hendrix chord.

The table below lists the 20 chord types most charts use, with their symbols, interval formulas and the notes when the root is C. The formula is what you carry to other keys: 1 3 5 ♭7 means root, major 3rd, perfect 5th, minor 7th on any root.

Slash chords

A slash means the note after it goes in the bass. C/E is a C major chord with E as the lowest note. On piano, the left hand plays E and the right hand plays C, E and G or a similar voicing. On guitar, the open C chord with the low E string added gives you C/E.

Slash chords have two common jobs:

• Inversions. C/E and C/G are the same chord as C, with a different chord tone in the bass. They make the bass line move by step: C, C/B, Am, Am/G is a bass walking down C, B, A, G.
• A bass note outside the chord. In C/D, D is not part of a C major triad. The result is a different, richer sound, close to a D chord with a suspended feel. Read it literally: C triad on top, D in the bass.

If you play bass, read only the note after the slash. If there is no slash, play the root.

Reading a lead sheet in practice

1. Find the root first, then the quality (m, dim, aug or nothing), then the number, then anything in brackets or after a slash.
2. Play the triad before adding the extra notes. If you are sight-reading, a correct triad is better than a wrong four-note chord.
3. Learn the sound of each type, not only the notes. Major sounds stable, minor darker, 7 restless, maj7 soft, m7b5 tense, sus open.
4. Use the key. A song in G major will mostly use G, Am, Bm, C, D and Em. A chord outside that list is worth a second look.
5. On piano, keep common notes in the same place and move the other fingers the shortest way. On guitar, learn one shape per chord type and move it along the neck.

With these rules you can read most charts in a hymnal, a pop songbook or a jazz fake book. When a symbol still puzzles you, write out the formula and spell the notes from the root. That method never fails.