GuitarChords.net

A minor guitar chord

A minor is A, C, and E. Mute the thickest string. The first picture uses three fingers. Look at it, then the list if you want the same steps in words.

x means muted. 0 means open.

A minor

Short code x02210, thickest string first.

  1. Low E string: muted, do not play.
  2. A string: open, note A, 1st.
  3. D string: fret 2, middle finger, note E, 5th.
  4. G string: fret 2, ring finger, note A, 1st.
  5. B string: fret 1, index finger, note C, 3rd.
  6. High E string: open, note E, 5th.

A minor uses the notes A, E and C.

This is a beginner grip.

People write "Am" for "A minor".

The first shape does not use a barre.

Another shape on this page uses a barre.

The next beginner chord on this site is E major. Open the E major page.

More A guitar chords.

Also A major, A dominant 7, A major 7, A minor 7, A suspended 2, A suspended 4, A power chord, A diminished, A augmented.

A minor, another shape

Short code x02555, thickest string first.

Barre fret 5 with the pinky finger on the G, B and high E strings.

  1. Low E string: muted, do not play.
  2. A string: open, note A, 1st.
  3. D string: fret 2, index finger, note E, 5th.
  4. G string: fret 5, pinky finger, note C, 3rd.
  5. B string: fret 5, pinky finger, note E, 5th.
  6. High E string: fret 5, pinky finger, note A, 1st.

A minor uses the notes A, E and C.

Why do these two A minor shapes sound different?

Both pictures are A, C, and E. That is A minor. The first picture mutes the thick string and rings the open A string and the open high E. The second picture keeps the open A and bars fret 5 on the three thin strings. Same three notes. The barre shape usually sounds bigger.

If the A minor in a song sounds bigger than the first picture, try the barre picture lower on this page. It is still A minor.

This site shows the chord. It does not play the recording. The first picture mutes the thick string. Extra bass on a recording is a different way of playing A minor, or a capo (a clamp that raises every string). Changing too fast into E major can do the same. Check those before you decide your fingers failed.

C is the note that makes this chord minor instead of major. On the first picture that C is on the B string, fret 1, index finger. Play A major after this A minor. On A major that note is C sharp. Listen for C turning into C sharp.

You can play A minor well and E major well and still have trouble in a song that uses both. The hard part is moving from this first A minor shape to the first E major shape without stopping. No finger stays on the same string and fret. Practice that change slowly.

Chords that go with A minor

The matching major chord is C major. Open the C major page.

This site also has F major and G major.

Progressions that start on A minor

Play each line in order.

A minor, D minor, E major, A minor

A minor (Am) and D minor (Dm) stay in the sad room. Then E major (E) lights up and yanks you home so hard it can raise the hair on your arms. Sad folk, Spanish-flavored guitar, and a lot of film music from the 60s on use that bright last lean. It feels like crying with your back straight.

A minor, F major, C major, G major

Am is the mood. F major (F), C major (C), and G major (G) refuse to let the song stop and cry in the corner. It feels like washing dishes after a hard day with a pop song on: not happy, not wrecked, still going. A lot of 2010s pop and alternative radio lives right here.

A minor, G major, F major, E major

The chords walk down like stairs, then E major flips a light. Rock and dramatic pop — think late-70s through 80s radio — love that walk into a sudden bright chord. Held breath, then a yes. Skin can jump.

A minor, D minor, G major, A minor

Stays sad the whole way. G major is a window, not a rescue. Folk and rock ballads that do not want a happy ending. A porch at dusk, not a dance floor.

A minor, C major, G major, A minor

C major shows up brighter, like a cousin who still smiles. Then G major, then back into Am. 1990s and 2000s pop that wants a little daylight inside a sad song. Not cheerful. Not hopeless.

Songs with A minor

Listen for this chord, then use the grip on this page.

Let It Be

A minor sits in this Beatles song. The recording is in C major. It also uses C major, G major, and F major. The verse is C major, G major, A minor, F major.

A minor is the third chord of the verse, the bar before F major.

Let It Be is a C major song Paul McCartney wrote while the Beatles were falling apart. C major is bright and steady. A minor (Am) is quieter and sadder. In the verse you play C major, then G major, then A minor, then F major. A minor is the sad bar in the middle.

In January 1969 they were filming the Let It Be sessions at Twickenham Film Studios, a cold soundstage. On January 10, 1969, George Harrison packed up and left. He told them he was leaving the band, now.

He later wrote in his 1980 book I Me Mine that it was not fun any more, and that it was very unhappy being in this band.

He came back a few days later, but only after they agreed to leave that cold soundstage. That was where he had felt unhappy enough to quit, and he wanted them to record the Let It Be film somewhere else.

George was unhappy that morning and he walked out. A minor is the unhappy, quiet chord in Let It Be. You hear it once in the verse, after C major and G major. Then the song goes to F major and back toward C major.