Chord Finder App

I think this topic may have been mentioned recently, but I'd like to find out if anyone knows of an app that allows you to enter a chord fingering on the mandolin, either tablature style or by identifying the notes, and tell you what chord you are playing. For example, I have been using a chord with the following fingering (string #/fret #): 1-open, 2-2, 3-5, 4-4; by note in the first position from 1 to 4, it is E-B-G-B. I haven't yet studied chord construction, so I know I need to learn what an E-B-G-B should be; that will come in due time. Oh, and I should also mention that I sometimes play this with the 1st string muted, which probably makes a difference since it omits the E.

Any help y'all can provide is most appreciated!

Old Dog Dave

Guitar Toolkit lets you switch to a mandolin and then shows a fretboard that you can pick any notes you want and it shows you one or more chords that could be. You can switch it from showing fingerings to notes.

To find it: "chords" tab at the bottom and then hit the "search" icon (magnifying glass) on the upper right; hit the music icon on the middle right to toggle between fingerings or notes.

Includes a tuner, scale finder, metronome, chord finder...

I have been using Fretter on my Android devices. It provides for a variety of stringed instruments and can be customized for unique tunings. You can enter chord names or select "reverse chords" to create chords on the virtual fret board. I once had an issue when I changed devices and the developer respond almost instantly with a fix.

Thanks, y'all. I'll check out Guitar Toolkit and Fretter. Appreciate the suggestions. BTW: Anyone know the chord name for the E-B-G-B (1st to 4th string) chord that I have been playing?

That chord's name is Emily - or Em for short. ;) If you want to get technical, maybe Em/B.

BTW, for future reference, I understand that the convention here for chord descriptions is low to high - so BGBE, or 4520. (I was thinking, "Wha-a-a-t?" at first, till I saw your parentheses.)

Thanks for the tip. I've been using Chord Namer. As far as I know, it offers no information for mandolin. I looked for Guitar Toolkit but found nothing under that name. Maybe I didn't search properly. I did find Fretter though and downloaded Fretter lite (no cost). Or is it better to download the full program?

Servus

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Originally Posted by journeybear

That chord's name is Emily - or Em for short. ;) If you want to get technical, maybe Em/B.

BTW, for future reference, I understand that the convention here for chord descriptions is low to high - so BGBE, or 4520. (I was thinking, "Wha-a-a-t?" at first, till I saw your parentheses.)

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Thanks so much, Journeybear. I will definitely use the low-high convention in the future. Also, thanks for the tip on the chord. I like it, but I just wasn't quite sure what it was.

Ya see? And they say you can't teach an old dog new tricks! (OK, chords, whatever!) Well, not if the name is Dave. ;)

And a mandolinist, cuz you know we're the smartest. :grin:

Anyway, I usually use 0223 in first position, though really, I tend to use 4577 the most - just sounds the strongest to me. But yes, that chord has a good solid sound. Don't think I've ever used it, except as a passing chord. So, see, I learned something, too. Old cats can learn a thing or two, too, to be sure. (I'm a cat person. :) )

Quote:

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Originally Posted by journeybear

Ya see? And they say you can't teach an old dog new tricks! (OK, chords, whatever!) Well, not if the name is Dave. ;)

And a mandolinist, cuz you know we're the smartest. :grin:

Anyway, I usually use 0223 in first position, though really, I tend to use 4577 the most - just sounds the strongest to me. But yes, that chord has a good solid sound. Don't think I've ever used it, except as a passing chord. So, see, I learned something, too. Old cats can learn a thing or two, too, to be sure. (I'm a cat person. :) )

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At my age (74), this old dog needs all the learnin' he can get!:). BTW: How are the conch fritters down your way? I lived in FL many years, mostly in Tallahassee, but in traveling to the southern part of the state I came across conch fritters and loved them. Can't seem to find them up here in the Pacific northwest. Also lived in Baton Rouge for a few years and I can't really find any true Boudin up this way. Man, boudin and conch fritters would be a meal for an old dog, for sure!!

Oh, they're all right, if you like greasy fried dough with a few chewy specks of some sort of sea critter sprinkled throughout. ;) I'm kidding - mostly - but they do vary widely from place to place. I was fortunate to have worked for years in downtown Mallory Square right next to the conch fritter stand, and I'd struck up a friendship with the proprietor. Used to slip me one or two now and then, if he'd made extra or whatnot. Kept my hankering at bay.

One thing I've learned from "Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives" is some entrepreneurial cooks do quite well serving up regional staples far from their regions. People do have food attachments, and often that increases with distance from their source areas. Guy Fieri has found great Italian food in Arizona and great Mexican food in Iowa and great barbecue in NYC - things like that. I don't know if conch fritters would sell well in the PNW, being not that popular, even here, but one never knows. ;) Louisiana food has a much higher level of interest, I'd think, and there might be someplace there you haven't found yet.

My middle son is a trained chef and Food Services Director for a campus up in Seattle. He decided to make some boudin himself, and though we haven't been up there as yet and tried it, we'll see him in a week or two and I know he kept some back for us. I'm looking forward to that. Meanwhile, thanks to your earlier response, I now have at least three Emily positions, one of which might have an added B. Every little bit that I learn is more than I knew, and I really appreciate it!!!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Servus

Thanks for the tip. I've been using Chord Namer. As far as I know, it offers no information for mandolin. I looked for Guitar Toolkit but found nothing under that name. Maybe I didn't search properly. I did find Fretter though and downloaded Fretter lite (no cost). Or is it better to download the full program?

Servus

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I could not find Guitar Toolkit app in Google Play store either. A google search revealled it is available only as an Apple app.

A low tech solution is to use the Chord Finder section in Mandolin Cafe. More chords than you can shake a pick at are listed there.

With B,GBe I’d be tempted to start at the top string ‘e’ because the higher notes tend to dominate the melody, and call that the tonic.
B on the second string gives you tonic plus it’s fifth.
G would be the minor third of e so that gives you and 1, 3, 5 minor pattern. E minor.
B, on fourth string emphasises the minor 3rd of the Em chord.

You can follow the same reasoning using B and G as tonic to see what that would point to, remembering that if you miss a string when you strum (a low one) then that could flip the chord to something else. Try to feel it, closed eyes, on the fretboard.