Among the most common chords you’ll encounter is the A chord on guitar. You probably already know the open A shape, where you use three fingers on the second fret, but this post is all about giving you some other options.

Like most guitar chords, the A chord can be played in various places on the neck. If you look around, you’ll be surprised at how many ways there are to play it.

However, take note that some folks out there will tell you that a certain shape is an A chord when it’s really an A7, A5, Asus4, or any other type of chord. Strictly speaking, the A chord refers to A major, which contains the notes A, C#, and E (and no others). You’ll only find A major chords here!

If you’re just using this post as a quick reference guide, I’ll list all 8 ways to play the A chord below:
 

You hear a chord when multiple notes ringing together create a harmony. Most chords have three or more notes, but two-note chords (such as power chords) also exist.

Chords are built in thirds starting from a root note. You can think of a musical third as every other letter of a parent scale. In the case of an A chord, the parent scale is the A major scale, which contains the notes A, B, C#, D, E, F#, and G#.

Counting up by thirds, we can see that the A chord should have the notes A, C#, and E. Adding another third on top of all that would give us A, C, E, and G#, which is an A major 7 chord.

One thing to take note of is that certain notes can be doubled when you strum an A chord. Take the classic open A shape below for example:


 






 
So you don’t need to worry about how many A’s, E’s, and C#’s you’re playing, just be sure you have at least one of each and you’re not playing any non-chord tones.
 

I think we sometimes take some of the best features of our instrument for granted. I mentioned above that we can play the A chord on guitar all up and down the neck. For some guitarists, that fact causes headaches; for others, all those possibilities can feel exciting.

In either case, having options on fretting the A chord means we can make our lives easier or harder. In compiling the 8 ways to play A major, I focused on relatively easy ways to play the chord. But for me, the two chord shapes above stand out as the easiest of all

Most of you might think of the open A shape on the left as the easiest one out there, but in my view it’s actually the shape on the right. You’re probably already used to fretting the open A shape on the left, but frankly it’s kind of awkward to squeeze all three fingers next to each other on the second fret.

I know that the shape on the right has you in 5th position, but if you’re comfortable being up there, that version of A is a good way to go. Each finger has its own fret, plus you’re still getting the sound of two open strings ringing out. It’s very similar to an open C shape, except with your second and third fingers shifted down a string.
 

You’ll find the A chord in a lot of common chord progressions. Here are a few of them:

A – D – E
D – G- A
Bm – E – A
Em – A – D
A – E – F#m – D

 

You’ll find the two most common ways to barre the A chord above.
Many guitarists avoid these types of chords, but they’re incredibly useful once you get the hang of them.

You can move these exact shapes up and down the neck, making 12 chords out of a single shape. The bass note determines the chord name in both cases. The shape on the left uses A on the sixth string, while the chord on the right uses the A on the fifth string.

If you struggle with barre chords, here are some tips that might help you out:
 

• Keep your left-hand thumb below behind the neck. This will provide extra strength.
• Move your left elbow close to your body; this also strengthens your grip for barring.
• Pull back against the guitar body with your right forearm. This effectively pushes the guitar neck into your index finger, meaning you won’t have to squeeze as hard with your thumb.
• Rotate your barring finger toward the neck. This makes the bonier side of your finger do more of the fretting.
• Barre as often as possible. Be sure to keep your barring sessions short (or else you might injure yourself) but do it frequently. Before you know it, barring won’t be a big deal.

For more helpful tips on barre chords, you should check out Barre Chords Made Easy and How to Conquer Barre Chords. Both are about how to master barre chords once and for all.
 

The A chord on guitar comes up all the time in songs, so it helps to know your way around it. If you practice these shapes a little bit every day, you’ll know them by heart in no time.

If some of these shapes (especially the barre chords) seem hard to you, remember there’s no shame in playing the A chord the easy way. You don’t need to suffer to play beautiful music on the guitar. Go ahead and use any shape you like and I’m sure you’ll sound great.

Best of luck playing the A chord!

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