CHORD REFERENCE

A Major

A – C♯ – E1 3 5

The A Major chord and everything around it — the notes and how they are built, the shape on piano and guitar, the sound, and the keys it belongs to.

Notes
A1C♯3E5

A is A, C#, E — the 1, 3 and 5 above the root A.

Piano
AEC♯
Guitar

Ways to play it

Open position
×
E-shape barre — 5th fret
5fr

Guitar — every position (frets 0–12)

357912eEAC♯EBC♯EAGAC♯EDEAC♯AAC♯EAEEAC♯E

Root notes are red. The shapes above are movable — an E-shape has its root on the low E string, an A-shape on the A string. any group of these notes on the neck sounds the chord.

Ukulele (standard G–C–E–A)

Movable shape
GCEA
357912AAC♯EAEEAC♯ECC♯EAGAC♯E

The shape above is movable up the neck. Every position of the chord tones on the ukulele neck — any group that sounds only A, C#, E plays the chord.

In which keys

A is a diatonic chord in these keys:

VD majorIVE majorIA major♭VIC♯ minor♭IIIF♯ minor♭VIIB minor
Other A chords

Triads

AmMinorA5Power Chord (5)AdimDiminishedAaugAugmentedAsus2Suspended 2ndAsus4Suspended 4th

Sixths & sevenths

A6Major 6thAm6Minor 6thA7Dominant 7thAmaj7Major 7thAm7Minor 7thAm(maj7)Minor–Major 7thAdim7Diminished 7thAm7♭5Half-Diminished (m7♭5)A7sus47sus4

Altered dominants

A7♭57♭5A7♯57♯5 (Augmented 7th)A7♭97♭9A7♯97♯9 (Hendrix Chord)

Extended & added

Aadd9Added 9thA6/96/9A9Dominant 9thAmaj9Major 9thAm9Minor 9thA11Dominant 11thA13Dominant 13th
Major on another root
CC♯D♭DE♭EFF♯G♭GA♭G♯AB♭B
Keep exploring

Work out the chords of a whole key with the Scale & Chord Finder, name a chord from its notes with the Chord Identifier, or browse every chord tool. The theory behind how chords are built is in the free Cloud Atelier music guides.