Virtual Guitar

What this virtual guitar is

This page puts a six-string guitar on your screen. Each string is a row, each fret is a column, and every square on the board is a button that plays the note at that spot. You can pick single notes, or choose a chord and strum all six strings at once. There is nothing to install and no account to make, and no audio files are downloaded, because the strings are synthesized on your device as you play.

The board shows the open strings and the first twelve frets. Twelve frets lift each string by exactly one octave, which covers the notes in most beginner songs. On a narrow screen the board scrolls sideways so every square stays large enough to tap.

How a guitar string makes its sound

A guitar string vibrates at a pitch set by its length, tension and thickness. Pressing a string against a fret shortens the part that can vibrate, which raises the pitch by one semitone for each fret. On an acoustic guitar the hollow body then amplifies the vibration and gives the sound its character.

To imitate this, the page uses a method called Karplus-Strong synthesis, first described in the early 1980s. It starts with a short burst of noise, which stands for the instant a string is plucked, and sends it round a loop as long as one cycle of the note. Each trip around the loop averages neighboring values, so the high overtones die away faster than the low ones, as they do on a real string. The result sounds plucked and string-like, but it is a model of a string, not a recording of a guitar, and it has no wooden body.

Strings and standard tuning

Standard tuning, from the thickest string to the thinnest, is E A D G B E. The page numbers the strings from the thin end, so string 1 is the high E and string 6 is the low E. With octave numbers the open strings are E2, A2, D3, G3, B3 and E4, at roughly 82.4, 110.0, 146.8, 196.0, 246.9 and 329.6 Hz.

Most neighboring strings are a fourth apart, which is five frets, but G to B is a major third, four frets. That is why a chord shape changes slightly when it crosses the B string. It also gives you a way to tune by ear: the fifth fret of the low E string sounds the same as the open A string, and the same works up to the G string. Between G and B the match is at the fourth fret. If you play a real guitar, the online tuner can listen to it and show how far each string is from the right pitch.

Playing with a mouse, touch screen or keyboard

• Mouse. Click a square to pluck that string at that fret. Hold the button and drag onto another string to pluck it as well.
• Touch screen. Tap squares, and use several fingers to play several strings together. Because the board is wider than a phone screen, drag the row of fret numbers above the board to scroll it sideways.
• Computer keyboard. Q W E R T Y U I select and strum the eight chords, 1 to 6 pluck the open strings, Space strums down and Shift with Space strums up.
• Keyboard navigation. Press Tab to reach the board, move with the arrow keys, and press Enter or Space on a square to pluck it.

The chord buttons and strumming

Pressing a chord button selects the chord and strums it downward at once. The chord stays selected, so Strum down, Strum up and the Space bar keep playing it. The frets that make up the shape are highlighted on the board, and strings that the shape leaves silent are marked with an x beside their label.

The eight chords are C, G, D, E minor, A minor, E, A and D minor. C, G, D, E and A are major chords, which sound bright and settled. E minor, A minor and D minor sound darker. Many simple folk and pop songs are built from just three or four of these, and a loop of G, C and D is a good first one to learn.

A down strum plays the strings from the lowest to the highest, a little firmer. An up strum goes from the highest to the lowest, a little softer, as it would with a pick. A short gap of a few hundredths of a second between strings gives the strum its sweep.

Beginner exercises

1. Meet the open strings. Press 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1 and say the names as they sound: E A D G B E.
2. Match two strings. Pluck the fifth fret on string 6, then the open string 5. They are the same note.
3. Hear major and minor. Strum A, then A minor, and listen for the change in mood. Try E and E minor next.
4. A three-chord loop. Strum G four times, C four times, D four times and G four times, keeping a steady count. Set the metronome to 60 beats per minute to keep time.
5. A one-string melody. On the B string (string 2), Mary Had a Little Lamb starts at frets 5 3 1 3 5 5 5, then 3 3 3, then 5 8 8.

What a virtual guitar is good for

The board labels every square with its note, so it is a quick way to learn where notes sit on the neck and what the common chord shapes look like. Songwriters can try chord changes before picking up an instrument, teachers can show a class how strumming works, and ear-training students can play a chord and name it by sound. It also works as a reference when you have forgotten how a chord is fingered. For a similar instrument with four strings, try the virtual ukulele.

Online guitar versus a real guitar

A real guitar rewards the player with touch. You press strings with the tips of your fingers, which builds calluses, and you can bend a string, slide along it, tap notes with hammer-ons and mute with the edge of your palm. The tone changes with the wood, the strings, the pick and where you strike.

The virtual one is free, always in tune and silent when you want it to be, and it shows you the note under every finger. Use it to learn the map of the neck and the chord shapes, and expect to move to a real guitar for technique.

Limitations of this version

• The sound is synthesized, not sampled, so it does not match a particular acoustic or electric guitar.
• There are no string bends, slides, hammer-ons, harmonics or palm muting.
• Only the open strings and twelve frets are shown, and the tuning is fixed at standard.
• Chords are limited to the eight shown. You can build other shapes by hand, one square at a time.
• Every plucked note has similar loudness. There is no recording, saving or MIDI input.
• Bluetooth headphones usually add a noticeable delay.

Common problems and how to fix them

• No sound. Browsers keep audio off until you interact with the page, so click a square or press a key first. Then check the volume slider, your device volume and the tab's mute icon. On an iPhone, also check the silent switch.
• The strum plays open strings. No chord is selected yet. Pick one of the chord buttons first.
• The keyboard shortcuts do nothing. Click an empty part of the page so focus is not inside another field.
• Notes seem to cut off. Each string rings until it fades or you pluck it again, which silences the previous note on that string, as a real string would.
• The sound lags behind your touch. Close heavy tabs and use wired headphones or the device speaker.