Open the Filters panel above the result list and flip Open chords only on. The list reduces to voicings that use at least one open string and close to the nut.
What counts as an "open" chord here
An open chord uses at least one string played without fretting — the string rings out at its natural pitch. Most of the chords you learn first on guitar are open: Am, C, D, E, G, Em. These shapes sit in the first few frets and rely on the open strings to fill out the chord.
Open chords have two practical advantages: there are usually fewer notes to fret, and the open strings can ring freely alongside the fretted notes, giving the chord a fuller, more resonant sound without asking your hand to do as much.
When the toggle returns nothing
Some chords genuinely don't have an open voicing. F and Bb are the obvious examples — there's no way to play either one with open strings in standard tuning. If the result list goes empty when you flip the toggle on, that's why.
Two options when this happens:
- Switch Open chords only off and look at the easiest movable shape instead. The first few results are usually the most compact options.
- Try a different tuning. Open tunings like Drop D, DADGAD, and Open G turn a lot of barre chords into open shapes.
Combining with other filters
Open chords only pairs well with other filters when you want the simplest possible voicings:
- Set Difficulty to Beginner to lead with the easiest open shapes.
- Set Max Fingers under Fingering to 3 to cap how many fretting fingers a voicing uses. To exclude the pinky specifically, untick 4 (Pinky) under Allowed Fingers below — Max Fingers caps the count but doesn't say which fingers.
- See How do I find chords I can play with small hands? for the full small-hands recipe.
Open chords only is one of the Pro filters, alongside Allow barre, the strings filter, and the deeper fingering controls.