Barre Chord A

The barre chord A is a very common chord that appears in lots of guitar songs. We’ll learn about this chord.

What is the Barre Chord A?

A bar chord is a chord created when one presses more than one string with the index finger.

This technique is widely used in the guitar, because it allows to create a chord where the index finger is responsible for holding several strings.

In a few words, this chord occurs when you use a barre chord to achieve the notes used in an A chord.

What is an Easy Way to Finger a Barre Chord?

You can put your whole finger over the fingerboard to press all strings at the same time.

Depending on the chord, you can also use the middle finger to provide more support to the barre position.

Another trick is to press only a few strings, if some of them are pressed by other fingers. For example, in the C major bar chord needs to 5th and 1st strings with the index finger:

C Chord

Pro Tip: You can learn more about this and many other chords using the excellent Guitar Notes software. You can use this to master guitar chord making as well as other guitar techniques.

What is the composition of the A major chord?

The A major chord is composed  of three notes: A, C, and E. That is, it s a triad.

The A major chord is also commonly extended with a 7th note, resulting A, C, E, and G#. This is denoted as Amaj7.

How to Play a Barre Chord?

The main feature of a barre chord is that the index finger holds a “bar” around the strings.

In practice, the student needs to hold the index finger with a slight amount of force, but also with support of the thumb in the back of the guitar neck.

What is the shape of the A major barre chord?

The shape of the chord is presented in the next diagram:

 

A Chord

Pro Tip: You can quickly learn the shape of any major chord using some techniques such as the CAGED system. To learn all this, you can check the complete Guitar Theory Reviewed site. There you’ll find a lot of useful information about topics such as creating chords in different positions, variations of the same chord, and transposition of chords.

 

What are other positions for the A major Barre Chord?

The chord can also be used in other positions, with a different shape. For example, here is the chord when used with the G shape:

A Chord

It is also possible to construct an A major chord starting with the A on the 4th string:

A Chord

Songs Containing the A Chord

A few songs include the following:

  • Sweet Carolyne, Neil Diamond
  • I can’t explain, The Who
  • Ob-la-di, Ob-la-da, The Beatles
  • Paperback Writer, The Beatles

Learn More About Guitar Chords

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