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The A chord

Three fingers on adjacent strings, second fret. Easier to play than to make sound interesting. The A (A - C# - E) is a major triad, which is why it sounds the most basic of musical building blocks. Writers pick it for a confident landing point, and you can find it across pop, folk, country and rock. On guitar the chord sits naturally where most players already park their hand; on piano it stacks straight up under the right hand. The page below covers the voicings worth memorising, the theory, the progressions where the A earns its keep, and the records that lean on it.

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Voicings for A

Common ways to grip the A on guitar and piano. Guitar diagrams read low E to high E left-to-right; an × means muted, an open circle above the nut means an open string. Filled dots are fretted notes.

Guitar , full chord shapes

CAGED-derived voicings for A across the neck. Pick the shape closest to where your hand already sits.

Guitar: E shape at fr.5

Notes: A - C# - E (chord tones)

Guitar: A shape at fr.2

Notes: A - C# - E (chord tones)

Guitar: D shape at fr.7

Notes: A - C# - E (chord tones)

Guitar: C shape at fr.9

Notes: A - C# - E (chord tones)

Guitar: G shape at fr.2

Notes: A - C# - E (chord tones)

Guitar , triad shapes

Three-note voicings on three adjacent strings. Light textures for arpeggios, pop layering and chord-melody work.

Triad: top-string triad

Notes: 3-note voicing on adjacent strings

Triad: middle-string triad

Notes: 3-note voicing on adjacent strings

Triad: bass-side triad

Notes: 3-note voicing on adjacent strings

Piano voicings

Root position and inversions. The bass note matters: each inversion changes how the chord sits under a melody.

Piano: root position

Notes: A - C# - E. Root A at the bottom. The classic stacked-thirds spelling of a major triad.

Piano: first inversion

Notes: C# - E - A. C# at the bottom. Common in chord-melody, walking bass lines and gentler voicings.

Piano: second inversion

Notes: E - A - C#. E at the bottom. A floating, suspended feel often used in hymns and ballads.

The theory behind A

The A chord (A - C# - E) is a major triad. Its intervals are root, major third, perfect fifth. Functionally it lives at home in D major as the Dominant (V), but you'll also find it in A major as the Tonic (I). The chord tends to stay home or move to the IV or V, which is why it shows up in any major-key songbook.

Progressions that use A

Short progressions that put the A to work. Each one is shown in a different key so you can pick the one that suits your singer.

I→V→vi→IV key of D major

D - A - Bm - G

The four-chord engine behind a thousand pop hits. The lift from I to V opens the chorus, vi pulls down into feeling, IV walks back toward home.

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I→V→vi→IV key of A major

A - E - F#m - D

The four-chord engine behind a thousand pop hits. The lift from I to V opens the chorus, vi pulls down into feeling, IV walks back toward home.

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I→V→vi→IV key of E major

E - B - C#m - A

The four-chord engine behind a thousand pop hits. The lift from I to V opens the chorus, vi pulls down into feeling, IV walks back toward home.

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i→VI→III→VII key of B minor

Bm - G - D - A

Heroic minor four-chord. The descent from i to VI to III gives the verse weight, VII slingshots back to the tonic. The Andalusian cousin of the pop axis.

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Songs that feature A

Real records where this chord does structural work. No lyrics quoted, just the title and artist so you can pull up a copy and hear it in context.

Three Little Birds by Bob Marley. A as the resolving chord of the verse.
Wonderful Tonight by Eric Clapton. A as the bright opening chord.
Brown Eyed Girl by Van Morrison. A as the V chord in the chorus.

Related chords

Chords a step away from the A in the songwriting circle, the natural neighbours when you want a substitution.

ParallelAm DomA7 Maj7Amaj7 m7Am7 NeighbourE NeighbourEm NeighbourE7 NeighbourD

Keys where A lives

The keys where this chord turns up diatonically. Open any key page for the full set of progressions that lean on it.

D major A major E major B minor

More songwriting tools

Got the chord but still wrestling with the lyric? Find the right rhyme in RhymeForge, or break a writer's block with the unexpected word-pair generator in CollisionLab. Need to map a full progression? The chord builder on the home page is where the A fits into context. All free, no signup.

About the chord builder

The Undercover Zest chord progression builder is a free interactive tool that maps every diatonic and borrowed chord in every key. Click a Roman numeral to hear it, drag chords into a progression, then audition voicings, inversions and tensions until the song clicks.

This page is a static reference for the A. For interactive playback, voice-leading hints and substitution suggestions, open the chord builder above.