37 Ways to Play the A (Major) Chord on Guitar
- Rodrigo Moreira
- Sep 2, 2022
- 13 min read
TABLE OF CONTENTS (Click to jump) |
Hi everyone, Rodrigo here again!
In today’s post, I’ll show you 37 different ways to play the A major chord. This can be especially helpful for beginners, as some shapes are easier to play than others. It’s also a great way for more experienced guitarists to expand their chord vocabulary and add variety to their playing.
If you're not familiar with chord diagrams, make sure to check out my article: How to Read Guitar Chord Diagrams & Charts for Beginners. It'll help you get the most out of this lesson.
If you’re just starting your guitar journey, I highly recommend my Basic Guitar Chords Chart: 25 Chords for Beginners, which lays a solid foundation before diving into more advanced chord shapes like the ones in this post.
And if you want to know more about barre chords, I recommend checking out my article on All 48 Essential Barre Chords for Guitar – Free Printable PDF Chart, where I dive deep into barre chord shapes that every guitarist should know.
If you’re also looking to strengthen your understanding of music theory, I’ve put together a 16-part series on theory applied to guitar, covering everything from the basics to more advanced concepts. You can explore these topics by clicking the links below or visiting the blog section in the top menu:
Simples Intervals -> Compound Intervals -> Triads -> Drop-2 Chords -> Drop-3 Chords -> Shell Chords & Extensions -> Triads & Extensions -> Chord Melody -> Guitar Arpeggios -> Guitar Scales -> Major Keys -> Minor Keys -> Harmonic Minor Keys -> Melodic Minor Keys -> Greek Modes -> Chord Progressions
Hope you enjoy the lesson!
Why Are There So Many Different Ways to Play the A Major Chord?
Any chord is made up of a combination of at least three different notes. In the case of the A major chord, those notes are A, C#, and E. If you’d like to understand how chords are built and learn to construct any chord from scratch, check out my article on Triads.
That said, there are two main reasons why there are so many different ways to play the same chord on the guitar.
Reason 1: The Note Order Doesn’t Matter
As long as you're playing the notes A, C#, and E, you're playing an A major chord, regardless of the order in which those notes appear.
A, C#, E
C#, E, A
E, A, C#
It doesn’t matter where on the fretboard you play these notes or how you arrange them, the result is still an A major chord.
However, there’s one important detail to keep in mind: the lowest note (also called the bass note) slightly alters how we write the chord symbol.
If A is the lowest note, it’s simply written as A (A major).
If C# is the lowest note, it becomes A/C# (A major over C#).
If E is the lowest note, it's written as A/E (A major over E).
These are all still A major chords, they just have different bass notes, which can change the overall sound of the chord in a progression.
Reason 2: The Guitar’s Layout Leads to Doubling Notes
You might be asking yourself: If a chord only needs three different notes, why am I sometimes strumming six strings to play it?
Great question! The answer is that when playing guitar, it’s usually more practical to strum across all six strings rather than targeting just a few. So to fill out the sound and make the chord easier to play, we repeat (or double) some of the notes.
For example, one common voicing of the A major chord spans all six strings and includes the following notes (from lowest to highest):
A, E, A, C#, E, A.
Even though you're playing six strings, you're still only using the three essential notes of the A major chord, just repeated in different octaves.
All of this opens the door to many different shapes and fingerings for the same chord. Below, you’ll find some of the most common ways to play A major on the guitar. But once you understand the theory behind it, you’ll be able to find, or even create many more!
The 4 Most Common Ways to Play the A Major Chord on Guitar
The image below shows the most common way to play an A major chord — and it’s usually the first shape beginners learn:
To play this chord, place your index finger on the 2nd fret of the D string, your middle finger on the 2nd fret of the G string, and your ring finger on the 2nd fret of the B string. Make sure to avoid or mute the low E string (6th string – the thickest one).
The image below shows the exact same A major chord as before, but played with a different finger combination:
The blue bar represents a barre chord, which means using one finger to press down multiple strings at once. In this case, you’ll use your index finger to barre across the 2nd fret of the D, G, and B strings.
The low E string should still be avoided or muted. As a result of the barre, the high E string might also get muted — but that’s totally fine and won’t affect the sound of the chord.
The image below shows the A major barre chord using all six strings:
To play this chord, barre all six strings at the 5th fret with your index finger. Then, place your ring finger on the 7th fret of the A string, your pinky on the 7th fret of the D string, and your middle finger on the 6th fret of the G string.
The image below shows the A major barre chord using five strings:
To play this chord, barre the D, G, B, and high E strings at the 14th fret with your ring finger. Then, place your index finger on the 12th fret of the A string. The low E string should still be avoided or muted. As a result of the barre, the high E string might also get muted.
A Major Chord Using Only Three Strings
To play this chord, place your middle finger on the 2nd fret of the G string and your ring finger on the 2nd fret of the B string. Only the high E, B, and G strings must be strummed.
#02
To play this chord, barre the high E and B strings at the 5th fret with your index finger. Then, place your middle finger on the 6th fret of the G string. Only the high E, B, and G strings must be strummed.
#03
To play this chord, place your index finger on the 9th fret of the G string, your ring finger on the 10th fret of the B string, and your middle finger on the 9th fret of the high E string. Only the high E, B, and G strings must be strummed.
#04
To play this chord, place your index finger on the 2nd fret of the D string, your middle finger on the 2nd fret of the G string, and your ring finger on the 2nd fret of the B string. Only the B, G, and D strings must be strummed.
This is the same chord as before, but here’s another common fingering: use your index finger to barre the B, G, and D strings at the 2nd fret.
#05
To play this chord, place your ring finger on the 7th fret of the D string, your middle finger on the 6th fret of the G string, and your index finger on the 5th fret of the B string. Only the B, G, and D strings must be strummed.
#06
To play this chord, place your ring finger on the 11th fret of the D string, your index finger on the 9th fret of the G string, and your middle finger on the 10th fret of the B string. Only the B, G, and D strings must be strummed.
#07
To play this chord, barre the D and B strings at the 2nd fret with your index finger. Then, place your ring finger on the 4th fret of the A string. Only the G, D, and A strings must be strummed.
#08
To play this chord, place your middle finger on the 7th fret of the A string, your ring finger on the 7th fret of the D string, and your index finger on the 6th fret of the G string. Only the G, D, and A strings must be strummed.
#09
To play this chord, place your pinky finger on the 12th fret of the A string, your ring finger on the 11th fret of the D string, and your index finger on the 9th fret of the G string. Only the G, D, and A strings must be strummed.
#10
To play this chord, place your pinky finger on the 5th fret of the low E string, your ring finger on the 4th fret of the A string, and your index finger on the 2nd fret of the D string. Only the D, A, and low E strings must be strummed.
#11
To play this chord, barre the D and A strings at the 7th fret with your index finger. Then, place your ring finger on the 9th fret of the low E string. Only the D, A, and low E strings must be strummed.
#12
To play this chord, place your middle finger on the 12th fret of the low E string, your ring finger on the 12th fret of the A string, and your index finger on the 11th fret of the D string. Only the D, A, and low E strings must be strummed.
A Major Chord Using Only Four Strings
#13
To play this chord, place your index finger on the 2nd fret of the D string, your middle finger on the 2nd fret of the G string, and your ring finger on the 2nd fret of the B string. Only the high E, B, G, and D strings must be strummed.
#14
To play this chord, barre the high E, and B strings at the 5th fret with your index finger. Then, place your middle finger on the 6th fret of the G string, and your ring finger on the 7th fret of the D string. Only the high E, B, G, and D strings must be strummed.
#15
To play this chord, barre the high E, B, and G strings at the 9th fret with your index finger. Then, place your middle finger on the 10th fret of the B string, and your ring finger on the 11th fret of the D string. Only the high E, B, G, and D strings must be strummed.
#16
To play this chord, place your index finger on the 7th fret of the D string, your middle finger on the 9th fret of the G string, your pinky finger on the 10th fret of the B string, and your ring finger on the 9th fret of the high E string. Only the high E, B, G, and D strings must be strummed.
#17
To play this chord, place your index finger on the 2nd fret of the D string, your middle finger on the 2nd fret of the G string, and your ring finger on the 2nd fret of the B string. Avoid strumming both the low and high E strings.
This is the same chord as before, but here’s another common fingering: use your index finger to barre the B, G, and D strings at the 2nd fret. Avoid strumming both the low and high E strings.
#18
To play this chord, barre the B, G, and D strings at the 2nd fret with your index finger. Then, place your ring finger on the 4th fret of the A string. Avoid strumming both the low and high E strings.
#19
To play this chord, place your index finger on the 5th fret of the B string, your middle finger on the 6th fret of the G string, your pinky finger on the 7th fret of the D string, and your ring finger on the 7th fret of the A string. Avoid strumming both the low and high E strings.
#20
To play this chord, place your index finger on the 9th fret of the G string, your middle finger on the 10th fret of the B string, your ring finger on the 11th fret of the A string, and your pinky finger on the 12th fret of the A string. Avoid strumming both the low and high E strings.
#21
To play this chord, place your index finger on the 12th fret of the A string and barre the B, G, and D strings at the 14th fret. Avoid strumming both the low and high E strings.
#22
To play this chord, barre the G, and D strings at the 2nd fret with your index finger. Then, place your ring finger on the 4th fret of the A string, and your pinky finger on the 5th fret of the low E string. Avoid strumming both the high E and B strings.
A Major Chord Using Five Strings
#23
To play this chord, place your index finger on the 2nd fret of the D string, your middle finger on the 2nd fret of the G string, and your ring finger on the 2nd fret of the B string. The low E string must be avoided.
#24
To play this chord, barre the high E and B strings at the 5th fret with your index finger. Then, place your middle finger on the 6th fret of the G string, your pinky finger on the 7th fret of the D string, and your ring finger on the 7th fret of the A string. The low E string must be avoided.
#25
To play this chord, barre the high E, B, and G strings at the 9th fret with your index finger. Then, place your middle finger on the 10th fret of the B string, your ring finger on the 11th fret of the D string, and your pinky finger on the 12th fret of the A string. The low E string must be avoided.
#26
To play this chord, barre the B, G, and D strings at the 2nd fret with your index finger. Then, place your ring finger on the 4th fret of the A string, and your pinky finger on the 5th fret of the low E string. The high E string must be avoided.
A Major Chord Using Six Strings
#27
To play this chord, place your index finger on the 2nd fret of the D string, your middle finger on the 2nd fret of the G string, and your ring finger on the 2nd fret of the B string. All strings must be strummed.
#28
To play this chord, barre all the 6 strings at the 5th fret with your index finger. Then, place your ring finger on the 7th fret of the A string, your pinky finger on the 7th fret of the D string, your middle finger on the 6th fret of the G string. All strings must be strummed.
Open Triads
The following chords are called open triads, and they’re not typically taught to beginners due to the difficulty of strumming them cleanly. Because these chords require precise muting of unused strings, they can be challenging to play with a pick. For that reason, it’s recommended to use fingerstyle technique when playing them.
#29
To play this chord, barre the B, G, and D strings at the 2nd fret with your index finger. Then, place your pinky finger on the 5th fret of the high E string. Only the high E, B, and D string should be played.
#30
To play this chord, place your index finger on the 7th fret of the D string, your ring finger on the 9th fret of the G string, and your pinky finger on the 9th fret of the high E string. Only the high E, G, and D string must be played.
#31
To play this chord, place your middle finger on the 11th fret of the D string, your index finger on the 10th fret of the B string, and your pinky finger on the 12th fret of the high E string. Only the high E, B, and D string must be played.
#32
To play this chord, place your middle finger on the 2nd fret of the D string, and your ring finger on the 2nd fret of the B string. Only the high B, D, and A string must be played.
#33
To play this chord, place your index finger on the 4th fret of the A string, your pinky finger on the 7th fret of the D string, and your middle finger on the 5th fret of the B string. Only the B, D, and A string must be played.
#34
To play this chord, place your ring finger on the 7th fret of the A string, your middle finger on the 6th fret of the G string, and your index finger on the 5th fret of the high E string. Only the high E, G, and A string must be played.
#35
To play this chord, place your ring finger on the 4th fret of the A string, and your index finger on the 2nd fret of the G string. Only the G, A, and low E string must be played.
#36
To play this chord, place your index finger on the 5th fret of the low E string, your ring finger on the 7th fret of the A string, and your middle finger on the 6th fret of the G string. Only the G, A, and low E string must be played.
#37
To play this chord, place your ring finger on the 9th fret of the low E string, your index finger on the 7th fret of the D string, and your pinky finger on the 9th fret of the G string. Only the G, D, and low E string must be played.
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