Among all the major chords, A major is one of the most used in popular music. It’s normally used in the genres of rock, blues, pop, and even jazz!
The sound it produces is cheerful. However, when we combine it with other chords such as B minor, C# minor, and E major, we can create chord progressions that sound interesting. These chords, among others like D major, F# minor, and G# diminished belong to the scale of chords that you can play if you’re on the key of A major.
A major is one of the first chords every guitarist should learn due to its massive use in popular music, and its simplicity. Today, we will show you the traditional way to play this fairly easy chord, and some of the variations you can try if you don’t feel like using the standard chord shape everyone uses. Let’s dive deep into how to play the different A major chord shapes!
Standard A Major Chord Shape
This shape is fairly easy to play, and even easier to learn! You’ll only need your first three fingers, and you’ll place them exactly on the same fret, but on different strings. You can use two different finger placements to play this chord, but we encourage you to learn the first one since it’s much more comfortable on the fingers and produces a better sound. Follow the next images to learn how to play the A major chord:
Both versions sound the same, and sometimes it feels easier transitioning to the second version of this chord. The crucial aspect of the first version is that it produces better sound when played. Whether you’d like to learn how to play the first or the second version, you’re still going to be playing the same notes in the same order!
A Major Triads
There are many ways in which you can play the A major chord. There are different shapes and note positionings in which you can play the A major chord. All the chords we’ll show you here are the triad variations, and each of these has a different flavor. Use the following images to learn how to play the A major triads:
A Major Barre Chord Shapes
Barre Chords might be challenging for some beginner guitar players, but you can learn how to play them in no time! To barre the strings, you have to press with the side of your index finger the frets in which you’d like to play those notes. After that, you place the other fingers where they need to be to play the chord, and voila!
Follow these images to play the two A major barre chord shapes:
