The Chord Mapper is a utility to help you learn scales and arpeggios on guitar and related instruments. It's my hope that this program will show you some new way to voice or play a chord that you hadn't previously considered.
The Chord Mapper displays a “map” of the chord or scale which you select: a graphic display of a fretboard with each note indicated. You can select from several scales or chord arpeggios, and view either the entire fretboard or notes accessible from a single finger position.
Just select an instrument and tuning which you wish to study, by clicking on the name. You will then see the instrument's fretboard. On the fretboard is a full map for a C major scale, that is, all of the notes which are part of the C major scale. From here, use the keyboard to change settings.
Use the Up and Down arrows to cycle through root notes. The Chord Mapper uses multiple names for the same note, for instance C Sharp and D flat are both options.
The Left and Right arrows change the fingering position. The white arrow indicates the location of the index finger. The range of notes displayed includes a stretch in either direction, up and down. In many cases this will result in the same note being displayed twice, for instance, if you select a C major scale at position III, you'll see the same B note both at the 7th fret of the 6th string, and the 2nd fret of the 5th string.
By default the chord mapper shows notes by their names (C, D, E...), but you can also display the notes by their number relative to the Tonic / Root note (R, 2, 3 ...). This may useful in understanding the construction of a chord.
Hitting “s” cycles through types of scales: major, natural minor, blues, pentatonic, and chromatic. Chromatic may be a little bit useless as it's just all of the notes, but this is what is here for now.
Hit “c” and you enter the Chord Mode. This mode allows you to build simple or complex chords, and view their complete arpeggios at any position. By default you will view the C major chord. You can change the chord by hitting the following keys:
| Key | Note | Cycle of notes (default is bold) |
| 3 | Third | Major 3, Minor 3, Sus 4, Sus 2, no 3rd |
| 5 | Fifth | Perfect 5, Diminished 5, Augmented 5 |
| 7 | Seventh | Major 7, Minor/Dominant 7, Major 6, none |
| 9 | Ninth | Major 9, Flat 9, Sharp 9, none |
| e | Eleventh | Natural 11, Major (Sharp) 11, none |
| t | Thirteenth | Major 13, Flat 13, none |