Virtual Guitar
Play a full six-string guitar right in your browser. Click any fret to pick a note, choose a chord shape and strum, or use your keyboard — every note is synthesized live with a physically inspired string model.
Keyboard: 1–6 pluck open strings (1 = lowest string) · Space strum down · Shift+Space strum up · click any fret to pick a single note
How to Play the Virtual Guitar
Pick Single Notes
Click any fret on any string to hear that note. The left column plucks open strings, and hovering a fret shows its note name. Turn on "Note names" to label the whole fretboard.
Strum Chords
Choose from ten common chord shapes — C, G, D, A, E, Em, Am, Dm, F, and B7. The green dots show where your fingers would go, then strum down or up with the buttons or the Space key.
Use Your Keyboard
Keys 1–6 pluck the open strings from low E to high e. Space strums the selected chord downward, Shift+Space strums upward, and the arrow keys work too.
Practice Tools Built In
🎸 Alternate Tunings
Flip between Standard, Drop D, half-step down (Eb), DADGAD and Open G from one dropdown. The fretboard relabels instantly, and the string buttons retune to the new notes — hear exactly how Drop D changes your lowest string before trying it on a real guitar.
🎼 Scale Highlighting
Pick a root and a scale — major, natural minor, both pentatonics, or blues — and every matching position lights up across all twelve frets. Root notes glow brighter than the rest, so the shape of the scale is visible at a glance. A fast way to internalize where the notes live.
🎵 Chord Progression Player
Queue any sequence of the built-in chords — try G–D–Em–C — set a tempo from 50 to 180 BPM and 2, 4 or 8 beats per chord, then press Play. The guitar strums itself in a loop with down- and up-strokes, highlighting the current chord. It doubles as a backing track for singing practice.
A Guitar That Runs Entirely in Your Browser
This virtual guitar uses the Karplus-Strong algorithm, a classic physically inspired model of a plucked string: a burst of noise is fed into a delay line tuned to the note's frequency, and a simple averaging filter drains the high frequencies away over time — exactly like a real string losing its brightness as it rings. Every note you hear is computed on your device the moment you play it.
The fretboard follows real guitar geometry: fret spacing narrows toward the twelfth fret exactly as it does on a physical instrument, the three bass strings are wound and darker, and the standard E-A-D-G-B-E tuning is accurate to a few cents. It is a practical tool for learning note positions, testing chord shapes, or sketching ideas when a guitar isn't at hand.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the virtual guitar free to use?
Yes. It is completely free, requires no registration, and runs entirely in your browser with no downloads.
How does the virtual guitar produce sound?
Each note is synthesized in your browser with the Karplus-Strong algorithm, a physically inspired model of a plucked string. No audio files are downloaded, and nothing is sent to a server.
Can I play chords on the virtual guitar?
Yes. Pick one of the built-in chord shapes (C, G, D, A, E, Em, Am, Dm, F, B7), then strum down or up with the buttons, the Space key, or the arrow keys. You can also queue chords into a progression and let the player strum it in a loop at your tempo.
Does the virtual guitar support alternate tunings?
Yes. Besides standard tuning you can switch to Drop D, half-step down, DADGAD and Open G from the Tuning dropdown. Chord shapes apply to standard tuning, but single notes, scales and note names work in every tuning.
Can the fretboard show scales?
Yes. Choose a root note and a scale — major, natural minor, major or minor pentatonic, and blues — and every position in that scale lights up on the fretboard, with the root notes highlighted more brightly. It works in every tuning and is a fast way to learn scale shapes.
Does the virtual guitar work on mobile?
Yes. On small screens the fretboard scrolls horizontally. Tap frets to pick notes or use the chord buttons to strum.
More Free Music Tools
Try our vocal range testto discover your voice type, theonline guitar tunerto tune a real guitar by ear, theonline pianoto play another instrument, or thereal-time pitch detectorto see any note you sing or play traced on a live pitch graph.