House of the Rising Sun
Am
C
D
F
E
Acoustic guitar, one chord at a time.
A quiet reference for the beginner: hundreds of public-domain songs, plain-English tutorials, fretboard diagrams that don't try to be clever, and a chord-transition guide for every common change.
Start with a beginner song Practice a chord change
Catalogued: 520 songs · 54 chord shapes · 210 chord transitions · 52 tutorials. 890+ pages, all server-rendered.
Chord of the day
D — Major
Today's spotlight is D, a beginner-friendly major shape rooted on D. Open the full diagram, learn the fingering, and find every song in the catalog that uses it.
Start with a beginner-friendly song
Each of these uses only open chords and sits at a forgiving tempo. Pick one, click through, and follow the practice plan on the page.
House of the Rising Sun (capo 2)
Am
C
D
F
E
House of the Rising Sun (capo 4)
Am
C
D
F
E
House of the Rising Sun (campfire easy)
Am
C
D
F
E
Scarborough Fair
Am
C
G
Em
F
Scarborough Fair (capo 2)
Am
C
G
Em
F
Common open chords
The bedrock of acoustic guitar. Click any shape for a full diagram, fingering tips, and a list of songs that use it.
Browse by what you want to learn
Top chord transitions for beginners
The chord changes that show up in nearly every beginner songbook. Each guide has the anchor finger, common mistakes, and the songs in our catalog that use the change.
G → C
Step-by-step technique, the anchor finger if there is one, and a 4-2-1 drill calibrated to this exact change.
G → D
Step-by-step technique, the anchor finger if there is one, and a 4-2-1 drill calibrated to this exact change.
G → Em
Step-by-step technique, the anchor finger if there is one, and a 4-2-1 drill calibrated to this exact change.
G → Am
Step-by-step technique, the anchor finger if there is one, and a 4-2-1 drill calibrated to this exact change.
G → A
Step-by-step technique, the anchor finger if there is one, and a 4-2-1 drill calibrated to this exact change.
G → E
Step-by-step technique, the anchor finger if there is one, and a 4-2-1 drill calibrated to this exact change.
G → F
Step-by-step technique, the anchor finger if there is one, and a 4-2-1 drill calibrated to this exact change.
G → Dm
Step-by-step technique, the anchor finger if there is one, and a 4-2-1 drill calibrated to this exact change.
Recent tutorials
How to Hold an Acoustic Guitar
Setting up your body and the instrument so your hands can move freely.
Tuning Your Guitar by Ear (and Why It Matters)
Standard tuning, why E A D G B E, and how to check it without an app.
Your First Three Chords: G, C, and D
The most common chord trio in folk and pop guitar, and how to switch between them.
How to Strum Without Sounding Mechanical
Loosening your wrist, keeping motion through chord changes, and feeling the beat.
Switching Between Chords Without Stopping
The single most important beginner skill, broken into 5-minute drills.
Reading a Chord Diagram: A Complete Walkthrough
Strings, frets, dots, X marks, O marks, and barre lines explained.
What is FretMapper for?
FretMapper exists for the player who has just bought their first acoustic guitar and is staring at a chord chart wondering whether the dots represent strings or frets. Every page on this site is built around two questions: What do my fingers actually need to do? and Why does it sound that way?
The catalog is intentionally limited to public-domain and traditional songs — the music that has been the first material for acoustic learners for a hundred years. You won't find chart-topping radio hits here, because copyright restrictions on tablature would force us to compromise on accuracy or completeness, and we'd rather have 520 songs you can study end-to-end than a thousand stubs. Each song page includes a full chord progression, a strumming pattern, a step-by-step practice plan, and links to the tutorials that cover the underlying technique.
Reading guitar music for the first time is a small literacy project. Start with the chord-diagram walkthrough, learn three open chords from the chord library, and then play your first song from the beginner index. That's a complete first week. We'll be here when you're ready for week two.