4 Ways to Play an A Chord on Acoustic Guitar
The A chord on an acoustic guitar is no easy feat. Even on the electric, it can be quite difficult because you are trying to shove 3 fingers into a single fret.
I’m going to go over a few options for how to play an A major chord on the guitar so you can find the version that fits your hand an hand size best.
Return to All Guitar LessonsA Major - Version 1 - My Way
This is how I play and A chord on guitar and is probably one of the most common ways people play the A chord. It uses the first, second and third fingers on the 4th, 3rd, and 2nd strings respectively.
You do not strum the top string on an A chord and you will need to press on the 4th string a bit harder so that it doesn’t mute at this finger tends to fall towards the back of the fret. See the diagram.
A Major - Version 2
This version is much the same as version 1, except that we are using different fingers in an effort to create more space. You can see in this version we are using fingers 2, 3 and 4 on strings 4, 3 and 2 instead.
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A Major - Version 3
I don’t particularly like this version for beginners because it is a barre chord, which makes it harder to play, but if you are someone with very larger fingers, this might be the way to go for you.
You will see that we are barring the second fret of the guitar with only our first finger. You may have to do a little finagling to figure out the best way to place your finger and get the bottom string to ring.
A Major - Version 4
This is my least favorite way to play and A major chord on the guitar, but if it works for you, then it works for you. I’d rather you have options than give up completely. We are back to using the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd fingers, but this time on strings 2, 1, and 3 respectively.
Try all 4 versions of the A major chord here and see which one feels most comfortable for you and will be the most compatible for your playing style.