ThreeChordGuitar.com: How to play an "A" chord

[grandcherokee4me]

Nice teaching style and decent vid quality. Exactly what I was looking for to give my son a headstart on his upcoming guitar lessons. Thanks!

[666Hellsing]

thanks for the vid i can do it now hehehe

[blakeuro1981]

I like your way of teaching. Its very clear and easy to understand. Thanks a lot.

[likecrunchyness]

Thanks so much for this video!!! Do you have a video on the A minor chord? You've helped thousands of people with guitar!

[TehWatcherOnly]

i managed to get it in the first go! thanks alot! i got help with the rest of your chords as well, and i've been playing the guitar a while before learning the chords, bad idea i heard hehe, but thanks alot!

[xenomaster1985]

No matter what I do I keep muffling the strings. How do u manage to get each finger in the middle of the fret without them all overlapping each other?

[ThreeChordGuitar]

I try to only hit the strings with the tip of my fingers. the rest is a lot of practice :)

[vertfdsa]

i struggle with this chord, either my fingers r to fat or my new ibanez gr70 is bit small,are all guitars roughly the same

[randyrhoadsrules1956]

most guitar necks are modeled almost exactly the same excep when u have ones with extra frets but those dont affect the above frets.....maybe its the distance between the strings and the neck

[donlonm]

me too! I can't stand it

[ThreeChordGuitar]

You can try doing a barre chord with your index and covering those three strings at the same time :)

[Bullstriker]

I just got my first electric guitar today (cheer) and I love your videos...BUT, can you make a video on how to tune your guitar correctly that would be awesome. Because I've watched a few other tuning videos but it just doesnt sound right...so if you could make a way of tuning your guitar without an electic tuner, that would rock!

[ThreeChordGuitar]

Actually, I would really recommend that you get an electric tuner. You can get them for as cheap as $5, and they speed up the whole process tremendously.

[ANumber13]

Thanks a lot man. I just got a Guitar today, and your videos are really helpful.

[ThreeChordGuitar]

Fantastic! Enjoy the guitar :)

[Graphicdesign123]

are you saying the index finger 3rd string form the top. thank you very much. i might get a new guitar. this is taylordtriplett i just got a new user name. dont know if you remember me

[ILoveKyohei]

Thank you very much! Your teaching is very good and I can understand very clear what you're actually telling me - not like all the other videos...So thanks again! <3

Grace - Lin

[ThreeChordGuitar]

Glad I could be of help! :)

[bmwbmwus]

Hey Mojo -- big thanks for the nice clear help...I am 53-years-young and trying to teach myself the basics and having you help me was as if you were in the room here with me...very clear and helpful...look forward to working with your other lessons...DS

[ThreeChordGuitar]

congrats to you on this new adventure :)

[solitary2911]

I am. My G string just broke and i replaced the string but its the first time ive replaced a string on my new guitar which has a floating floyd rose tremolo.

it will not go in tune at all.

its gutting.

[ThreeChordGuitar]

I figured you were from the UK from the "can't be arsed" part, which I hadn't heard since I lived in England.

Changing strings on a Floyd guitar is a pain in the.. arse. Check out Google for info on how to change strings on those darn things. That's why I play Teles and hard tail guitars... no need to worry with that stuff! :D

[solitary2911]

lol nice.

Thing is its such a perfect bit of equipment, just wish i was better with the string changing but i suppose it will come soon enough.

Ive managed to get all the strings perfect and the G is half perfect so its going to have to do.

Tomorrow im going to learn the E chord, i learnt A + D from your videos today.

Im learning to play bob marley you see =p

[peanutbutterfriends]

your g string broke? hehehe

[solitary2911]

Great video, i found it very easy to learn with your help. my first chord =]

About time too, i can play guitar fast, do whammy bar harmonics, pinch harmonics and tapping and all that jazz but until now i just have not been arsed to learn chords.

Thanks again.

[ThreeChordGuitar]

Are you from the UK?

Glad I could be of help :)

[ChristinaShoutsOut]

im so confused,

im trying to self teach myself

and why do some websites say like e.g

on a you strum all strings

yet others like here say u dont strum the e string?

[ThreeChordGuitar]

My advice to you when conflicting info is provided is to:

1. Understand what the difference is. For example, look at what notes make an A chord and decide if an E note at the bottom really should be there.

2. Play the chord both ways and decide which one sounds the best to you.

[ccharlie4]

do u strum all the strings?

[ThreeChordGuitar]

Nope, the thick "E" string is not strummed... check out chord patterns on the site at threechordguitar dot com for more info on the family of A chords :)

[puszysty]

Thanks so much

[gerned]

Is it me or is the A chord a real bitch to play, my palm gets in the way I arc and its raspy, Im really having trouble with this chord. Keep practicing I guess! Thanks for the lesson

though

[stevebowers13]

Thanks so much, your singlehandedly teaching me how to play guitar.

[stevebowers13]

thanks

[stevebowers13]

Your singlehandedly teaching me how to play guitar, thanks so much for posting these. I can play the chords but the changes kill me. Any advice?

[ThreeChordGuitar]

I am so glad to be of help. Changes? unfortunately, all you can do is play and play and play, and when in doubt, play some more! :)

[class66]

er yeah i can see why , lots of diff ways of playin it . seems to pop up in stuff i want to play ie u2!

[ThreeChordGuitar]

It does... but what I always try to see is if I can transpose the song to another set of chords that don't involve an F ;)

[class66]

ok i see thanks, confusin for us beginners but im gettin there

F chord vid?

[ThreeChordGuitar]

You're very welcome. Always glad to help, so feel free to ask whenever something bothers ya. If I know the answer I'll post it. If I don't I'll find someone who does :)

I tried to stay away from the F since the whole point of the website is to play easy chords, but I'll see what I can do! Thanks for the suggestion.

[class66]

i have other matarial that says A7 is the same as A but with pinky on 3rd fret low E..?is this another way of playing ?

[ThreeChordGuitar]

When you play a regular A7, you have three fingers at the 2nd fret on the D, G & B strings. If you lift your middle finger off the G string 2n fret, you now have an open G string ringing. If you place your pinky on the 3rd fret of the high E string, what note is played? You got it, a G - only one octave higher. Bottom line, both ways will work depending on what sound you are looking for :)