Am guitar chord shapes
Mục Lục
The A Minor Guitar Chords | Keys and Songs
The A minor chord is one first chord you should learn. It pairs well with the C major chord, for two reasons:
they
are both parts
of the key of C major, one of the most used key, and you can switch from one chord to
the other by just moving the ring finger from the 3rd fret of the A string (C major) to the 2nd fret of the G string (A minor), back and forth.
As you can see in the following table, the A minor chord is the Submediant chord of the key of C, which is located at the 6th degree of the scale:
Key
I
ii
iii
IV
V
vi
vii
C
C
Dm
Em
F
G
Am
B dim
The key of A minor is relative to C major, so it has the same chords but in different order:
Key
i
ii
III
iv
v
VI
VII
A
Am
B dim
C
Dm
Em
F
G
A Minor Chord Progression
The A minor chord is present in the Axis of Awesome progression: C G Am F, probably the
most used and over-abused chord sequence in the history of western world.
Also the Doo Wop progression (C Am F G) show an A minor chord.
There are many other progressions that use the A minor chord, check my ebook 52 Chord Progressions | Learn How To
Connect Chords and Create Great Songs for a complete reference.
Other Keys That Contains The A Minor Chord
The A minor chord is present in many other keys, here below you find the most used keys:
G Major Key
Here the A minor chord is the Supertonic, because is located on the 2nd degree
Key
I
ii
iii
IV
V
vi
vii
G
G
Am
Bm
C
D
Em
F# dim
F Major Key
Here the A minor chord works as Mediant
Key
I
ii
iii
IV
V
vi
vii
F
F
Gm
Am
Bb
C
Dm
E dim
E Minor Key
In the E minor key, the A minor chord works as Subdominant.
Key
i
ii
III
iv
v
VI
VII
E
Em
F# dim
G
Am
Bm
C
D
D Minor Key
In D minor Key, the A Minor Key has the role of dominant, notice how it well resolves to the root (D)
Key
i
ii
III
iv
v
VI
VII
D
Dm
E dim
F
Gm
Am
Bb
C
Songs with the A minor chord
On guitar, probably it is impossible to find a song that does not have an A minor chord somewhere.
Here’s a quick list of songs that begins with an A minor chord:
- Stairway to Heaven
- House of the Rising Sun
- Californication
- The Unforgiven
- Losing my Religion
- Still got the Blues
- Breaking the Law
- Angie
This easy guitar songs list will show you more tunes.
Ok, be sure to master this chord really well because you’ll encounter it many times in your guitar life. To learn anything you need about guitar chords, check my Chords Domination | Play Any Chord You Want Across All The Fretboard.
