A minor guitar chord (Am)

How to play Am

Finger numbers run 1 for the index to 4 for the little finger. String names are given as players say them — the low E is the thickest string (the 6th) and the high E is the thinnest (the 1st).

1. 1st finger (index) — 1st fret, B string
2. 2nd finger (middle) — 2nd fret, D string
3. 3rd finger (ring) — 2nd fret, G string

• Play open: A (5th) and high E (1st) — strum them without fretting anything.
• Leave out: low E (6th) — start the strum below it, or damp it with the side of the thumb.

Notes and intervals in Am

Am is built from 3 notes: A, C and E.

• A — the root (R)
• C — the minor 3rd (b3)
• E — the perfect 5th (5)

Across the six strings the shape sounds A · E · A · C · E from low to high, so some notes are doubled in different octaves — that is what gives an open guitar chord its width compared with the same chord on a keyboard.

What Am is used for

Am is the vi chord in C major and the i chord in A minor: the shape that makes a bright progression turn wistful. It is also the parent of every minor barre chord — put a barre behind this pattern and slide it up the neck and you have all the others.

Common mistakes with Am

• The index finger lying flat. It has to sit on the 1st fret of the B string only; flattened, it deadens the open high E right next to it.
• Strumming the 6th string. The root is the open A, so the low E stays out of the sweep.
• Muddling Am with E major. They are the same finger pattern moved across one string — check that your lowest fretted note is on the D string, not the A string.

Chords that go with Am

Same-root variations first, then the chords a fourth and a fifth away — the shapes Am is most often played alongside.

• A major
• A dominant 7
• D major
• D minor
• E major
• E minor