What is a chord chart?

A chord chart shows you what chords to play above the lyrics in each song section so you know what to play and when. The exact chord voicing is left up to you to choose exactly where to play it on guitar.

Chord charts are by far the most common form of music notation you will see on a modern worship team. Most chord charts come from Planning Center or CCLI SongSelect.

Chord chart layout

A chord chart is 2 columns and displays each song section in order. The lyrics are written out to sing or follow along with each chord listed above. The chords are (usually) spaced out above the word or syllable where the chord transition should happen.

Ideally, every song has the title, artist, key, BPM, and sometimes capo listed at the top for quick reference.

What chord charts don't show

Chord charts don't include the melody, the specific fingering of the chords like with chord diagrams, or show the strumming pattern. There are many slight variations of charts though, so you may see some differences.

What is a capo?What are guitar chord diagrams?