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A Minor Chord and A Major Chord

A Minor Chord and A Major Chord is Part 6 in a 14 part series on Learn to Play Guitar Lessons. We will learn to play A Major and A minor in multiple places on the guitar. We will also learn all of the diatonic chords in the key of A Major.

NOTE: To review the major scale visit C Major Scale.

A MAJOR CHORD AND A MINOR CHORD

A MAJOR CHORD

Again, a triad is a 3 note chord. You need a root, a 3rd and a 5th.

Below is an A major scale. The notes are A,B,C#,D,E,F#,G#

Take the 1st note A, the 3rd note C# and the 5th note E. This makes a A Major chord. Often the 1st note (also called the root or the tonic) and/or the 5th note is doubled. The 3rd is rarely doubled.

In the A guitar chord below, the notes are as follows:

Top string - (not played)
5th string - (root)
4th string - E (5th)
3rd string - A (root doubled)
2nd string - C# (3rd)
1st string - E (5th doubled)

A MAJOR version 1

A MAJOR version 2

(same notes as v1 fingered differently)

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A MINOR CHORD

The minor triad is still a 3 note chord. You need a root, a minor 3rd and a 5th. A minor is the relative minor (VI chord) in C Major.

Below is an A minor scale (also called natural minor). The notes are: A,B,C,D,E,F,G

Take the 1st note A, the 3rd note C# which is now down a half step (or semi-tone) to C and the 5th note E. This makes an Am chord.

In the A minor chord below the notes are as follows:

Here the 1st note (also called the root or the tonic) and the 5th note are doubled. The 3rd is only played once.

Top string - (not played)
5th string - A (root)
4th string - E (5th)
3rd string - A (root doubled)
2nd string - C# (3rd)
1st string - E (5th doubled)

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DIATONIC CHORDS IN A MAJOR

The reason the next key is A is that it is the 4th chord in the Circle of 5ths and has 3 sharps, F#, C# and G#.

To review music theory chords in a key visit C Major Chord and Chord Theory and return.

There are 7 chords in a key indicated by roman numerals. In A Major they are:

A Major is the I Major chord
B minor is the II minor chord
C# minor is the III minor chord
D Major is the IV Major chord
E Major is the V Major chord
F# minor is the VI minor chord
G# diminished is the VII diminished chord

A Major / I Major

B minor / II minor

C# minor / III minor

D Major / IV Major

E Major / V Major

F# minor / VI minor

G# diminished / VII diminished

Thanks for viewing Am Chord and A Major Chord. Now let's move to our next chord family in the Circle of 5ths, E. It has 4 sharps, F#, C#, G# and D#.

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Continue to Part 7, E Guitar Chords

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