A Minor Chord on Guitar
Am A C E 2 shapes Open chord
Chord diagrams
How to play A Minor on guitar
The A Minor chord (Am) is made of A, C, E - 1 b3 5. On a guitar in standard tuning the easiest way to play it is the open shape x02210, with no barre. Below are 2 shapes in all, from the lowest on the neck to the highest; the same chord sounds brighter the higher you play it.
E-shape barre, fret 5 577555
Strings from the low E (left) to the high E (right). Numbers are fingers: 1 index, 2 middle, 3 ring, 4 little. x = do not play the string, o = open string, a bar = one finger across several strings.
Notes
What notes are in A Minor?
The A Minor chord has 3 different notes: A, C, E. Root, minor third (3 half steps up), perfect fifth (7): only the third differs from the major chord. A guitar chord rarely has as many strings as notes, so shapes double some of them: the e-shape barre, fret 5 sounds all six strings.
| Note | Interval from the root | Half steps |
|---|---|---|
| A | Root | 0 |
| C | Minor 3rd | 3 |
| E | Perfect 5th | 7 |
Chords that go with it
Chords in the key of A minor
The seven chords built on the A minor scale, with the easiest shape of each. i, iv and v are the backbone; VI, III and VII are the major chords borrowed from the relative major.
A progression to strum
- i - VI - III - VIIAm - F - C - G
Songs
Songs with the Am chord
Easy songs on this site that use Am, with the chords over the lyrics and a guitar that plays along.
Questions
Frequently asked
How do you play Am on guitar?
The open shape x02210: D string fret 2 (finger 2), G string fret 2 (finger 3), B string fret 1 (finger 1); let A and high E ring open, do not play low E.
What notes are in the A Minor chord?
The A Minor chord (Am) is made of A, C, E. Its formula is 1 b3 5. On the guitar, some of those notes are played twice on different strings.
Is there a barre version of Am?
Yes: e-shape barre, fret 5 (577555). Barre shapes have no open strings, so you can cut the sound short with your fretting hand.
Keep playing
Strum Am, then build a song around it
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