A Chord Guitar Guide

For the default A chord guitar fingering, put finger 1 (index) on string 4, finger 2 (middle) on string 3, and finger 3 (ring) on string 2, all at fret 2. String 5 is open A and string 1 is open E. Begin your strum on string 5, not the low E string.

Three fingertips share one fret space. They do not all have to sit in a perfectly straight row. Place them one at a time and try a small stagger while keeping every fretted note between the first and second fret wires. Check one string after each adjustment rather than squeezing the whole shape harder.

If the open high E is muted, check whether the ring fingertip on string 2 is touching string 1. If a fretted note buzzes, check that finger’s location within the fret space and move it nearer the second-fret wire without resting on the wire. The tool cannot tell which adjustment your own guitar needs; pluck that string again and listen.

In the diagram, string 6 is on the left and string 1 on the right. × means leave a string silent; ○ means play it open. Diagram dot numbers identify fingers, while TAB numbers identify frets. A vertically aligned TAB stack here is a chord, not a melody or a rhythm.

Read the A chord guitar note list as chord tones and as individual sounding strings. A major contains A (root), C sharp (major third) and E (perfect fifth). In standard tuning the default shape sounds A2, E3, A3, C sharp 4 and E4 from string 5 to string 1. The low E string is excluded. Repeated A and E notes are separate sounding strings, not new chord tones.

The mini-barre sounds A2, E3, A3 and C sharp 4, ending on string 2. Its TAB has x on strings 6 and 1. The reference audio uses the same four pitches shown in the selected string table; the main sound is synthesized and does not measure your tuning, finger pressure or playing.

Am changes the third from C sharp to C. That pitch change is small, but the physical finger change depends on the starting fingering. A7 also introduces G, and Asus2 replaces the third with B. Those are different chord identities, not alternate names for the two A major examples here. No A7 or Asus2 fingering is provided on this page.

This A chord guitar exercise uses a fixed pair. Use the default three-finger A and the open Am shown here. With these stored fingerings, all three fingers move: index from string 4, fret 2 to string 2, fret 1; middle from string 3, fret 2 to string 4, fret 2; ring from string 2, fret 2 to string 3, fret 2. Do not confuse one changed pitch with one moving finger.

Form A and check strings 5 through 1 individually. Release excess pressure, form Am, and check the same five strings again. Both shapes leave string 6 silent. The sounding note on string 2 changes from C sharp 4 to C4; the other four pitches stay the same even though the fretting fingers are rearranged.

Try four slow A–Am alternations with one gentle strum on each shape. Pause as long as needed to find the next position. If a note sounds unclear, return to the single-string check before adding speed. This is an original coordination exercise and a listening comparison, not a performance test.

The exercise always uses the default three-finger A, even if the main reference is set to mini-barre. Its labelled diagrams and reference tones remain a fixed pair. The checkbox records your own check for the current visit; the page does not listen through a microphone, award a score or promise saved practice history.