How to play the A Minor chord on guitar
A minor is E minor's shape moved up one string, which makes it the cheapest possible lesson in how shapes transfer across the neck. It pairs with C, F and G constantly — that four-chord family covers an enormous amount of popular music.
A Minor is a minor triad — A, C, E. The flattened third is the single note that separates it from A major, and it is the whole reason it sounds darker.
Finger it one string at a time
- low E string: don't play it.
- A string: play it open.
- D string: fret 2 with your middle finger.
- G string: fret 2 with your ring finger.
- B string: fret 1 with your index finger.
- high E string: play it open.
Similar to E major but shifted down one string.
What makes this shape awkward
- 1 string stays silent, so your strumming hand has to start on the right string. Aim the pick rather than sweeping all six.
Other voicings
A Minor can also be played with a different note in the bass. Each voicing keeps the same notes and changes which one you hear lowest.
- Root Position — A in the bass.
- 1st Inversion — C in the bass.
- 2nd Inversion — E in the bass.
Where you'll use it
Am appears in 6 of the play-along progressions in RiffRoute. These are the actual sequences it sits in:
- First Progression (Lesson 1) (Progressive Lesson, 78 BPM) —
C → Am → F → G - Steady Heart (Classic Rock, 76 BPM) —
C → G → Am → F → C → G → F → C - Amber Turnaround (Jazz Standard, 120 BPM) —
Am → D7 → G7 → C7 - Windfall Picking (Acoustic Folk, 90 BPM) —
C → C7 → Am → Asus2 → Asus4 → Am - Dust & Shadows (Desert Rock, 92 BPM) —
Am → Asus4 → F → E7 - Silk & Cedar (Neo-Soul, 80 BPM) —
Dm → G7 → C → Am
Keys it belongs to
Am is diatonic to these keys, which is why it turns up in songs written in them — the bracket is the degree it plays there:
Chords it's usually played with
In the progressions that use Am, these turn up alongside it most often — learning them together is more useful than learning Am alone.
Hear it and check yourself
Reading a diagram only gets you so far — the part that decides whether Am sounds right is whether every string rings cleanly. RiffRoute plays the chord back, listens while you strum it, and tells you which string is buzzing.