The Search page allows you to find songs based on the chords they use.
For example, a song search of G, C, and D reveals nearly 4,000 tunes that use those chords (and only those chords). You’ll see:
- 3-chord songs that use G+C+D
- 2-chord songs that use G+C or G+D or C+D
- 1-chord songs that use G or C or D
This article covers the core features of the Search page.
There are also video tutorials for each section.
Adding and Removing Chords to Search
To add chords, simply type them into the search box and use the pull-down menu.
Natural language is allowed (i.e. A = AM = Amaj = Amajor).
If you have a Test or Gold Account, you can also import any previously searched chords.
Once a chord has been added, you can mouse over it to see the fingering. This option works for the 200+ most popular chords in the database.
To remove a chord, click on the red X. If the fingering diagram pops up, the red X will not be clickable.
Song Search Filters
The Chord Genome Project comes with several filters to help you narrow down your song searches.
1. Genre & Decade Filters (Beta)
With Genre filters, you can limit the results by Rock, Folk, Country, etc. And Decade filters allow you to limit results by 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, etc.
You can combine these filters to find:
- Rock songs from the 1970s.
- Country and Folk music from the 1960s.
- Pop tunes from the 1980s and 1990s.
Any songs that don’t have genres or years attached are labeled “Misc.”
The Genre and Decade filters are an experimental feature (for the reasons listed here). They’re not 100% perfect. But they’re still incredibly helpful – especially when dealing with thousands of potential results.
2. Force Last Chord Filter (Gold Only)
If you have a Gold Account, you can force the last chord added to appear in the search results. This is very useful if you want to practice a particular chord.
For example…
If you do a search of G, C, and D, you’ll see about 4,000 songs that use these 3 chords (and only these chords).
When you add a new chord (e.g. Eminor), you’ll see about 12,000 results that use some exclusive combination of G, C, D, and Eminor. But only 8,000 of these songs are new. You’ve already seen 4,000 of these tunes in the previous search.
But by clicking the “Force Last Chord” option, you’ll only see results that use Eminor. All 8,000 of these songs are new. And by definition, they’re all one chord away from being playable.
Practice these new tunes to get really good at Eminor.
3. Wildcard Filter (Gold Only)
If you have a Gold Account, you can use the Wildcard filter to find a massive list of songs that are all one chord away from being playable.
Let’s say you do a search of G, C, and D – with the Wildcard filter checked. You’re basically telling the platform to show you all songs that use G, C, D + ? (where ? = any chord).
For example, you’ll see songs that use:
- G, C, D + A
- G, C, D + F
- G, C, D + Em
- G, C, D + G7
- D, G + A7
- G + F#m6
There’s an insane amount of processing behind these searches. And that’s why the Wildcard option is only for Gold members.
To learn how the Song Search feature works (behind the scenes), click here.
