Mine is downright primitive compared to all of the ones the rest of you are posting, being a command line program in C that I originally wrote around 1986, probably for THINK C on my Mac Plus.
Here is the source code [1], only updated to compile cleanly with a modern C compiler and not to depend on any libraries or functions that were specific to THINK C, plus one bug fix and some reformatting.
Here are some usage examples:
$ ./chord
c
C: C E G
<3>|-----|-----|-<5>-|-----|-----|-----|-----|-<1>-|-----|-----|-----|-<3>-|
|-<1>-|-----|-----|-----|-<3>-|-----|-----|-<5>-|-----|-----|-----|-----|
<5>|-----|-----|-----|-----|-<1>-|-----|-----|-----|-<3>-|-----|-----|-<5>-|
|-----|-<3>-|-----|-----|-<5>-|-----|-----|-----|-----|-<1>-|-----|-----|
|-----|-----|-<1>-|-----|-----|-----|-<3>-|-----|-----|-<5>-|-----|-----|
<3>|-----|-----|-<5>-|-----|-----|-----|-----|-<1>-|-----|-----|-----|-<3>-|
c7
C7: C E G A#
<3>|-----|-----|-<5>-|-----|-----|-<7>-|-----|-<1>-|-----|-----|-----|-<3>-|
|-<1>-|-----|-----|-----|-<3>-|-----|-----|-<5>-|-----|-----|-<7>-|-----|
<5>|-----|-----|-<7>-|-----|-<1>-|-----|-----|-----|-<3>-|-----|-----|-<5>-|
|-----|-<3>-|-----|-----|-<5>-|-----|-----|-<7>-|-----|-<1>-|-----|-----|
|-<7>-|-----|-<1>-|-----|-----|-----|-<3>-|-----|-----|-<5>-|-----|-----|
<3>|-----|-----|-<5>-|-----|-----|-<7>-|-----|-<1>-|-----|-----|-----|-<3>-|
c#m
C#m: C# E G#
<3>|-----|-----|-----|-<5>-|-----|-----|-----|-----|-<1>-|-----|-----|-<3>-|
|-----|-<1>-|-----|-----|-<3>-|-----|-----|-----|-<5>-|-----|-----|-----|
|-<5>-|-----|-----|-----|-----|-<1>-|-----|-----|-<3>-|-----|-----|-----|
|-----|-<3>-|-----|-----|-----|-<5>-|-----|-----|-----|-----|-<1>-|-----|
|-----|-----|-----|-<1>-|-----|-----|-<3>-|-----|-----|-----|-<5>-|-----|
<3>|-----|-----|-----|-<5>-|-----|-----|-----|-----|-<1>-|-----|-----|-<3>-|
You simply type chord names, and it shows you what notes are in the chord and where you can find them on the guitar fretboard. The first example is a C chord. It tells you the notes you want are C E G. In the diagram a <1> means that is a place you can play the root of the chord, a <3> is the third, a <5> is the fifth. For the C chord, then, we see that on open first string would give us <3>, the third fret <5>, the root is on the 8th fret, and the <3> is also on the 12th fret.
Chord names are the root note (with # for sharp or b for flat), and modifiers 'm' for minor, '6', '7', or '9' for a 6th, 7th, or 9th chord. (I have no idea why I did not include diminished chords).
If a line starts with '-' it is a command to change settings. Commands are "-cN" to set a capo on the Nth fret
Here are the commands. "-cN" for a capo on the Nth fret. "-t<notes>" to set the tuning for each string, where <notes> is a list of 6 note names (which can each be followed by # or b). "-Td" or "-TD" for D tuning. "-sN" to transpose by N half-steps (N can be negative). "-n" to switch to a narrower display and "-w" to switch back to normal. Narrow display looks like this:
C: C E G
3 |---|---|-5-|---|---|---|---|-1-|---|---|---|-3-|---|---|-5-|---|
|-1-|---|---|---|-3-|---|---|-5-|---|---|---|---|-1-|---|---|---|
5 |---|---|---|---|-1-|---|---|---|-3-|---|---|-5-|---|---|---|---|
|---|-3-|---|---|-5-|---|---|---|---|-1-|---|---|---|-3-|---|---|
|---|---|-1-|---|---|---|-3-|---|---|-5-|---|---|---|---|-1-|---|
3 |---|---|-5-|---|---|---|---|-1-|---|---|---|-3-|---|---|-5-|---|
It's always amusing to look at one's old code. Much of it seems like it was written by someone else. For instance, I see a lot more spaces around punctuation than I would use today. I think that is probably because the editor I used back then did not have syntax highlighting, so extra space was needed to make sure you didn't confuse consecutive tokens.
Here is the source code [1], only updated to compile cleanly with a modern C compiler and not to depend on any libraries or functions that were specific to THINK C, plus one bug fix and some reformatting.
Here are some usage examples:
You simply type chord names, and it shows you what notes are in the chord and where you can find them on the guitar fretboard. The first example is a C chord. It tells you the notes you want are C E G. In the diagram a <1> means that is a place you can play the root of the chord, a <3> is the third, a <5> is the fifth. For the C chord, then, we see that on open first string would give us <3>, the third fret <5>, the root is on the 8th fret, and the <3> is also on the 12th fret.Chord names are the root note (with # for sharp or b for flat), and modifiers 'm' for minor, '6', '7', or '9' for a 6th, 7th, or 9th chord. (I have no idea why I did not include diminished chords).
If a line starts with '-' it is a command to change settings. Commands are "-cN" to set a capo on the Nth fret
Here are the commands. "-cN" for a capo on the Nth fret. "-t<notes>" to set the tuning for each string, where <notes> is a list of 6 note names (which can each be followed by # or b). "-Td" or "-TD" for D tuning. "-sN" to transpose by N half-steps (N can be negative). "-n" to switch to a narrower display and "-w" to switch back to normal. Narrow display looks like this:
It's always amusing to look at one's old code. Much of it seems like it was written by someone else. For instance, I see a lot more spaces around punctuation than I would use today. I think that is probably because the editor I used back then did not have syntax highlighting, so extra space was needed to make sure you didn't confuse consecutive tokens.[1] https://pastebin.com/0rZnaVgu