Lead Lab
Stuck on a solo? Drop in the chords you're playing over and El Guitarrista shows you the one scale that fits the whole thing, and the exact notes to land on.
Add the chords you're playing over
Or build from a key — one click per chord
Click any chord to drop it into your progression. “Triads” gives simple 3-note chords; “7th chords” gives fuller jazz/blues voicings.
No chords yet. Add the chords from the part you're soloing over — pick a root and type and hit Add, or open “build from a key” above. As soon as one chord is here, your scale and target notes appear below. Drag chips to reorder · × to remove.
Scales & Modes
Any scale in any key, mapped across the whole neck with interval labels.
Notes in this scale
Chords & Keys
Pick a key on the circle, or a chord directly — and get every voicing, the scales to solo over it, and the chords to pair it with.
Key
Diatonic chords
Neighbour keys
The IV (counter-clockwise) and V (clockwise) are your most natural changes. Click a diatonic chord to open it below.
Common shapes
Inversions & voicings up the neck
Every playable way to voice this chord — root position and inversions across different string groups. Click any to hear it.
Scales & modes to solo over it
Every scale here contains all the chord tones. Click to open it on the fretboard.
Chords for song changes
Substitutions & reharms
Where this chord lives
All chord tones across the neck
CAGED System
The five shapes — C, A, G, E, D — that tile any chord across the whole neck. Learn the connections and you can play any chord, anywhere.
Shapes up the neck
Shapes are shown in ascending neck order. Each shares notes with its neighbours — that overlap is how you connect positions. Click a shape to hear it.
The whole system on one neck
Triads
Three notes — root, third, fifth — are the DNA of every chord. Learn their shapes on the top strings and you can play any chord anywhere, comp without stepping on the bass, and outline the changes right inside your solos. This is the single highest-leverage thing on the neck.
What a triad is
Stack three notes a third apart and you get a triad. The root names the chord, the third decides major or minor, and the fifth gives it body. Change one note and you change the whole color.
The four flavors
Same root, different third and fifth. Tap one to explore it below.
The three inversions are the same three notes re-stacked — root, third, or fifth on the bottom. Learn all three on each string set and you own that triad across the whole neck. Click any shape to hear it.
The same triad, all over the neck
Inversions, plainly
- Root position — root is the lowest note. The “home” shape.
- 1st inversion — the third is on the bottom. Lighter, leads well.
- 2nd inversion — the fifth is on the bottom. Open, floating.
Same three notes every time — only the bottom note changes. Inversions let you find a nearby shape instead of jumping across the neck.
Why three strings
A triad only has three notes, so it fits perfectly on three adjacent strings. Each string set gives the same chord a different octave and feel:
- Top set (1·2·3) — bright and cutting; great for melody and comping over a band.
- Middle (2·3·4) — balanced, warm; the workhorse.
- Lower (3·4·5) — thick and full; sits closer to the rhythm.
How to actually use them
Comp cleaner
Play stabs on the top three strings instead of big barre chords. You stay out of the bassist’s way and the band sounds bigger, not muddier.
Voice-lead
When the chord changes, jump to the nearest inversion instead of the same shape somewhere else. Tiny moves = smooth, professional.
Solo with intent
Triad shapes are your arpeggios. Target the root, third, and fifth of each chord and your lines outline the changes — the sound of “knowing the tune.”
Add color
Shift one finger and a triad becomes a sus, a 6, or an add9. Slide a shape up a set for instant upper-structure tension.
Triads in motion — I · IV · V
The three main chords of the current root’s major key, voiced on the top strings with the closest inversions — notice how little your hand moves. That’s voice leading.
Practice Player
Load a track, slow it down with no change in pitch, and loop a phrase — trimmed down to a fraction of a beat.
Saved clips
Save a named loop from the track above — handy for keeping loops from several songs on hand without re-finding the files each time.
No saved clips yet. Load a track, set a loop, name it above, and save it.