A guitar chord: 4 ways to play A major

Ways to play A

Open position first, then up the neck. Tap a shape to put it on the fretboard above and hear it. The numbers are fingers (1 is your index), × means leave that string out, and ○ means let it ring open.

What's in A

A major chord stacks a major 3rd (four half steps) and a perfect 5th (seven half steps) on the root. For A that gives A, C♯ and E. Every shape below is some arrangement of those three notes, with a few doubled in another octave.

Note	Formula	Interval from A
A	1	Root
C♯	3	Major 3rd
E	5	Perfect 5th

Major chords sound settled and bright. They are the I, IV and V of every major key, which is why so many songs get by on three of them.

The key of A major

Three sharps. A, D and E are all open chords, which makes A a natural home for blues and rock. The ii and iii (Bm and C♯m) need barres.

The seven chords built from the A major scale:

IA
iiBm
iiiC♯m
IVD
VE
viF♯m
vii°G♯dim

Songs in A major

Wild Thing, The Troggs
Tears in Heaven, Eric Clapton
Stand by Me, Ben E. King

Keys that use A

Every major and minor key whose scale contains all of A, C♯ and E, and the chord's Roman numeral in each. Minor keys marked harmonic get the chord from the raised 7th of the harmonic minor scale.

Key	A is the
A major	I
E major	IV
D major	V
D minor (harmonic)	V
C♯ minor	VI
F♯ minor	III
B minor	VII

Progressions to try

I–IV–V in A major

A
D
E
A

The three-chord backbone of folk, blues and early rock and roll.

I–V–vi–IV in A major

The loop under a huge share of pop songs since the 1980s.

I–vi–IV–V in A major

The 1950s doo-wop progression. Same chords as above, different order, very different mood.

The relative minor is F♯m, which shares its key signature. The parallel minor is Am, same root with the 3rd lowered.

Other chords on A:

See every chord in the library

A major chord