A Piano Chord: Notes & How To Play It

The A piano chord is a great one to learn and have under your belt. You need to play this chord in the keys of D, A, E and more.

Here you'll learn the notes of the A major chord, the A chord diagram, fingering, inversions, how to play it and more!

The A Chord

If you see an A chord, it means to play the notes A C# and E.

You can play these in any order but I'd recommend keeping A as the lowest note in the left hand.

How to Play the A Major Chord on the Piano

This super quick video goes over the notes of the A major chord in root position, or it’s home base.

Learn A & Other Chords in the 14 Day Chord Challenge!

I have a very popular chord challenge where you learn 14 very important chords in 14 days. Sign up here for the 14 day chord challenge to join in.

A/C#

If you see an A/C# chord, it means to play the notes of the A chord (A C# E) but play C# as your bass note. This is the lowest note in your left hand.

A/E

If you see A/E, this means to play E as the lowest note or your bass note.

This gives the chord a different tone or emphasis and any time you see a slash chord like A/E, the note that come after the slash is the bass note.

How Is The A Chord Made?

The A chord comes from the A major scale. (Have you tried the scales challenge yet? Scales are a great foundation for learning chords.)

Major chords are made from the 1st, 3rd and 5th notes of the scale. In this case, that's A C# and E.

Which Fingers Do You Use For A Chord

Use the standard chord fingering for root position when playing any major chord in root position - in this case, that's A C# E.

The standard fingering is:

Right hand: 1 3 5

Left hand: 5 3 1

That's your thumb, middle finger and pinkie.

A Major Chord Inversions

Just because we have the notes A C# and E for the A chord doesn't mean we always have to play them in that order.

There are a few other standard positions to learn to play this chord in.

A major chord notes in root position: A C# E

1st inversion: C# E A

2nd inversion: E A C#

(Not sure what inversions are? Learn more about inversions here.)

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Ultimate Chord Cheat Sheet

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Are There More A Chords?

There are quite a few chords that start with A. They are not A major chords but different types.

The following are some of the common ones.

AM7 or A Major 7 chord

The A major seventh chord, generally written as AM7 or Amaj7, has the notes A C# E G#.

A Suspended Chord

The notes of the A4, Asus, or Asus4, a suspended chord, are A D E.

How To Play A Minor (Am) On Piano

The A minor chord, a foundational one you definitely need to learn, has the notes A C E. This is written as Am.

Am7 or A Minor 7 Chord

A minor 7, a personal favourite, has the notes A C E G.

How to Play the A2 Chord on Piano

The A2 chord, a second chord, has the notes A B E.

Free Download:

Ultimate Chord Cheat Sheet

Subscribe below and get free access to the (printable) Ultimate Chord Cheat Sheet.

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