Guitar Lesson - Chords in A

Chord naming - when you see a chord like A6, it means "an A chord, but with the sixth note in the major scale of A added". if you don't know a chord, play the nearest equivalent you do know, you could substitute a plain A chord.

The first chord is an A chord, but with a half -barre (flatten your first finger). Taking the top note (A) down one fret gives you A maj7, then A7, then A6.The numbers in chord names refer to intervals - the distance from the starting note, using the notes of the major scale.

So A to A is 8, A to G sharp is 7, A to F sharp is 6, etc. This rule works for all chords.

This pattern could be moved up the fretboard - for instance if all the chords were moved up 3 frets we'd be in the key of C, and the chords would then be C, Cmaj7, C7, C6.

Next the same idea is transferred to a root 5 shape - now it's the middle note (A) that's moving.

Then we have some common chords in this key (complete list is on the left hand column)

It's really a good idea to think of a musical example, so you can visualise the sound of a chord progression - the second part of Strawberry Fields Forever, or Something by The Beatles would be appropriate here.

The 6 vertical lines are the strings, horizontallines are the frets. 0 = Open string.

We can improvise in the key of A with the scale shown ( both in tab and as a fretboard map) It's also referred to as F sharp minor pentatonic, it's the same notes either way.

Then I've put in the flat 5 or blues notes, which works well for country/blues/rockabilly material. In practice, you can mix these two scales up any way you want.

Guitar tab - each string (of 6) is represented by a line, string 6 is at the bottom (low E) The numbers tell you the fret to play in, it's as simple as that. My other hub Guitar tab has more info.

If you look at the key signature for the key of A, the number of flats or sharps which is the first thing to appear on written, notated music - you'll notice there are 3 sharps.

On piano this would probably mean it's going to be a little difficult to play, but on guitar it doesn't make much difference - due to the fact that you can just move patterns up and down the neck to play in different keys.

In this key,

• The I, IV and V chords are A, D, E (often E7)
• The ii iii and vi chords are minor ( Bm, C♯m and F♯m)
  

All this material will work well together in terms of songwriting. A is a favourite key for The Beatles, country, country rock songs. That's because it is a very guitar-friendly key, and most of the chords and scale patterns you need are found in the middle of the guitar fretboard, about halfway up the neck. Also, each of the 3 major chords has a handy open string bass note available.