Virtual Guitar: Play Guitar Online

Yes. It is free, needs no account or download, and runs entirely in your browser on a computer, tablet or phone.

In Chords mode the number keys 1 to 8 pick a chord from your progression and strum it. Space, the down arrow or J strums down, the up arrow or K strums up, and Q W E R T Y pluck single strings from the 6th (low E) to the 1st (high E). M switches palm mute on and off, and X stops the strings ringing.

Not on this page: the virtual guitar is played with touch, the mouse and the computer keys. To play from a MIDI keyboard in the browser, use the free MIDI keyboard tool on GrooveSheet, which works in Chrome, Edge and Opera.

Yes. Tap the strings, swipe across them to strum, or use the big Down and Up pad. Held upright, a phone shows the first six frets, which hold every open chord; turn it sideways to see more of the neck. If you hear nothing, check that the phone is not on silent.

It is a practice tool rather than a course. It shows each chord shape with the fingers to use, where every note sits on the neck, and lets you practise chord changes and strumming in time with a click. It does not listen to or grade your playing. When you want to learn a real song, GrooveSheet can transcribe its guitar part into sheet music and TAB from a recording.

No. Every note is synthesised in your browser with a plucked-string model (the Karplus-Strong algorithm), shaped by a guitar body for the acoustic sound and an amp and speaker for the electric ones. Nothing is downloaded, so it starts at once and works offline after the page has loaded.

In Free Play, tap or click any string at any fret to pluck that note; the string stays fretted there, so dragging across the strings strums every note you have fretted. In Chords, pick a progression and tap a chord, or press its number key, to strum it. Then strum with the Down and Up pad, by dragging across the neck, or with the keys: Space or the down arrow strums down, the up arrow strums up, and Q W E R T Y pick single strings from the 6th to the 1st. Palm Mute gives the short, chugging sound of a hand resting on the strings at the bridge.

From the thickest string to the thinnest, standard tuning is E A D G B E: E2 (82.4 Hz), A2 (110 Hz), D3 (146.8 Hz), G3 (196 Hz), B3 (246.9 Hz) and E4 (329.6 Hz). Each fret raises a string by one semitone, so the 12th fret, marked by the double dot, is the open note an octave higher. The 5th fret of each string matches the next open string, except the G string, where the 4th fret gives B. On the low E string the natural notes fall at fret 1 (F), 3 (G), 5 (A), 7 (B), 8 (C), 10 (D) and 12 (E). Turn on Note Names to see every note on the neck.

These five open chords cover thousands of songs. G: middle finger on the 3rd fret of the low E, index on the 2nd fret of the A, ring finger on the 3rd fret of the high E; strum all six strings. C: ring finger on the 3rd fret of the A, middle on the 2nd fret of the D, index on the 1st fret of the B; skip the low E. D: index on the 2nd fret of the G, ring on the 3rd fret of the B, middle on the 2nd fret of the high E; strum from the open D string. Em: middle and ring fingers on the 2nd fret of the A and D; strum all six. Am: index on the 1st fret of the B, middle and ring on the 2nd fret of the D and G; strum from the open A. Switch on Note Names to see the notes, or leave it off to see which finger goes where.

Count the bar as 1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and. Down strums fall on the numbers, up strums on the ands, and your hand keeps swinging down and up like a pendulum even when it misses the strings, which keeps you in time. The most common pop pattern is down, down up, up down up: 1, 2 and, and 4 and. Down strums are fuller and hit the bass strings; up strums are lighter and catch mostly the treble strings, which is how the guitar here plays them too. Start Play Along at a slow tempo, change chord on the 1 of each bar, and speed up once the changes are clean.

No. The free tools need no account and no download. They run in your browser, and nothing you play or drop in is uploaded.

Yes, in any current mobile browser. MIDI keyboards and pad controllers need Chrome, Edge or Opera, on a computer or an Android phone.

GrooveSheet turns any song into sheet music, MIDI and separated stems with AI: drums, bass, guitar, piano and more. Every song starts with a free 30-second preview.