Learn The A Chord on Guitar

When you’re first learning how to play guitar, I recommend practicing chord switching between two chords. That way, you’ll be able to learn some easy 2 chord songs on guitar, and can focus on the strumming patterns and all that other (very important) stuff.

Once you learn a few two chord songs, you’ll be able to expand your chord vocabulary and learn some 3 chord songs, etc. It’s more important to focus on the whole picture (putting chords & strumming together) than getting carried away with how many chords you know – quality over quantity!

A Major Chord Diagram

Not sure what this chord diagram means? Learn how to read guitar chord diagrams!

Tips For Playing A Chord on Guitar

In my free eBook, you’ll find the following A chord tips along with helpful diagrams and visuals to make this chord easier to play.

1. Make sure your thumb is in a good spot near the middle of the neck (up vs down) and pointing upwards
2. Sit up straight, with your shoulders back
3. Keep your fingers curled so they don’t mute adjacent strings
4. Press as close to the fret as possible
5. It’s okay if your fingers “budge” each other out of that way – that’s going to happen when you stack your 3 fingers on the same fret

To speed up the process, I recommend doing some quick & easy warmup exercises that’ll help build up your strength and reach. To help with that, here’s a page with some great guitar warm up exercises for beginners (and beyond!)

Switching Between A and Other Basic Guitar Chords

A is among the first chords you should learn on guitar. I recommend switching from A to D first, as they share a common finger (your ring finger slides back and forth between the 2nd and 3rd fret of the B string).

To help you practice this switch and many other common ones, I’ve put together an entire page dedicated to switching between A and other basic chord shapes.

Easy Songs Containing The A Chord

Here is a list of easy A chord songs. If you’d like to find more, check out this list of 2 Chord Songs on Guitar. There are plenty containing the A major chord and one other basic shape. You can also try using the song finder, here on my website. Simply check the box for “A” and search for any song containing the A chord!

E to A

• Born In The U.S.A. Guitar Tutorial (Bruce Springsteen)
• Achy Breaky Heart Guitar Tutorial (Billy Ray Cyrus)
• State of Grace Guitar Tutorial (Taylor Swift)
• Row Row Row Your Boat Guitar Tutorial

If you’re looking for a complete path, that will transform you from an absolute beginner into a confident guitarist, check out my Beginner’s Course. It’ll teach you all the fundamentals of guitar: rhythm, dexterity, accuracy, all while learning real songs that you can enjoy playing at home, or with your family and friends.