9 distinct chords · 184 changes · 4:38 long
Chord timeline
Chords in this song
- F
- B♭
- A♭
- D♭
- G♭
- C
- Fm
- E♭
- D♭m
What you are playing
Chords for Smells Like Teen Spirit, laid out across its 4:38 exactly where they fall. It leans on barre chords — with a capo on fret 1 the same song becomes E A G C F B Em D Cm, which sits easier under the hand. Every one of its 9 chords is a plain triad, so three notes under the right hand covers the whole song.
Play it in another key
The same song, moved. Every row is Smells Like Teen Spirit shifted by that many semitones — useful when the recording sits too high or too low for your voice. The chords keep their relationships, so the song is unchanged apart from its pitch.
| Shift | Chords |
|---|---|
| CFD♯G♯C♯GCmA♯G♯m | |
| C♯F♯EADG♯C♯mBAm | |
| DGFA♯D♯ADmCA♯m | |
| D♯G♯F♯BEA♯D♯mC♯Bm | |
| EAGCFBEmDCm | |
| FB♭A♭D♭G♭CFmE♭D♭m | |
| F♯BADGC♯F♯mEDm | |
| GCA♯D♯G♯DGmFD♯m | |
| G♯C♯BEAD♯G♯mF♯Em | |
| ADCFA♯EAmGFm | |
| A♯D♯C♯F♯BFA♯mG♯F♯m | |
| BEDGCF♯BmAGm |
On a guitar there is a shortcut in one direction: transpose down by n and put a capo on fret n, and you are back at the original pitch while playing the easier shapes. That is what the capo line above is doing.
