How do I play the A chord?

How many ways can you play A on guitar? ( Heaps! ) The chord of A major is able to be played several different ways on guitar. The way to play it depends on the style of the song you need it for, and the finger choices depend on the other chords you need to change A to and from.

Basic open-position A can be played several ways. Look closely at these chord diagrams; they’re not all the same. The finger numbers inside the dots on the strings are different. Each of these options are commonly used. The half-bar version needs your index finger to capo across four strings, but don’t play the 1st string. The three-string A5 is the ‘power-chord’ type.

Advanced A chords: Here are a selection of the most useful A shapes in higher positions: These too are all commonly used forms of A :

Modern guitar chord styles to the rescue!

Modern Guitar Chord Styles 1 : This is a very helpful book for entry-level players and those who have already learned the common chords but are still having trouble putting a full song together. If this reflects where you are up to, just a few weeks of the technique building work in MGCS1 will have you putting songs together confidently.

Relevant pages in Modern Guitar Chord Styles 1 : to learn more about A and it’s derivative forms, and uses go to pages 9, 15, 24, 26 and 28.