Piano chord · Major triad · Beginner
A major piano chord (A)
A, C♯ and E, played together. Root position is highlighted on the keyboard below — press play to hear it.
Notes in A: A, C♯ and E
| Note | Interval from the root | Key around middle C |
|---|---|---|
| A | Root | A4 · white key |
| C♯ | Major 3rd | C♯5 · black key |
| E | Perfect 5th | E5 · white key |
- Chord symbol: A — A major
- Formula: R · 3 · 5 (0 · 4 · 7 semitones from the root)
- Right hand fingering: 1-3-5 — thumb, middle finger and little finger
- Left hand fingering: 5-3-1, little finger on the root
How A works
A major has a black key in the middle again, and it is a chord guitarists call for constantly. A–C♯–E is also the upper half of several dominant chords, so the shape pays for itself as soon as you reach the sevenths.
A inversions
An inversion keeps the same notes and changes which one is at the bottom. That matters because it lets you move between chords without jumping: the closer the notes of the next chord are to the ones your hand is already holding, the smoother it sounds and the easier it is to play. Root position first, then two inversions.
Root position
A–C♯–E — the root, A, is at the bottom.
1st inversion — C♯ in the bass
C♯–E–A — the same three notes, reordered so C♯ is lowest.
2nd inversion — E in the bass
E–A–C♯ — the same three notes, reordered so E is lowest.
Common mistakes on A
- Playing C natural, which produces A minor.
- Lifting the whole hand to reach C♯ instead of just moving the finger.
- Rolling the notes so they arrive one at a time; a triad should sound as a single event.
Piano chord data last updated . Every diagram here, in the printable PDF and in the chart image comes from one dataset, so the paper and the screen cannot disagree.