Minor chord · A root
Am chord
- A1
- C♭3
- E5
The A minor chord is built from the notes A, C, E. It turns up 116 times in the 80 songs on this site, including A Thousand Years and Ain't No Sunshine.
By Chiye · Updated
What is the Am chord?
The Am chord (A minor) is a minor chord built from three notes: A, C, E — the 1–♭3–5 of the A scale, 3 semitones and 7 semitones above the root. On guitar it is most often played in open position (x-0-2-2-1-0) with 3 fingers while 2 strings ring open and the low E string stays silent. It is rated beginner — most players learn it in their first weeks. The darker, moodier counterpart of the major chord. It is one of the most-used chords in this site's library: across the 80 song sheets charted here, Am appears 116 times in 26 songs, most often in the keys of C and Am, and the chord it most often moves to is G. Below you will find step-by-step fingering, 4 positions up the neck, audio of every shape, and the real progressions this chord lives inside.
How do you play the Am chord on guitar?
Open position — the easiest version of Am on the guitar.
- Press the D string at fret 2 with your middle finger.
- Press the G string at fret 2 with your ring finger.
- Press the B string at fret 1 with your index finger.
- Start your strum on the A string and do not play the low E string at all.
The x mark is part of the shape, not an accident: the chord only sounds right when low E stays silent. Instead of aiming your pick around that string, let the string next to it rest on it and damp it. x-0-2-2-1-0
How do you make Am sound clean?
The Am shape invites a collapsed wrist because the fingers feel crowded. Wrist straight, fingertips vertical, elbow in.
Am → C shares two fingers in place — pivot on them instead of lifting the whole hand. The first "pivot finger" change worth mastering.
In real songs
What songs use the Am chord?
- chord changes
- 116
- songs
- 26
- common keys
- C · Am
Across the 80 chord sheets on this site, Am appears 116 times in 26 songs — most often in the keys of C and Am.
CGAmEm
AmEmGAm
AmAm/GEmDm
All 26 songs that use Am— key, capo and a link to every sheet
| Song | Artist | Key | Capo |
|---|---|---|---|
| A Thousand Years | Christina Perri | Bb | 3 |
| Ain't No Sunshine | Bill Withers | Am | — |
| Can't Help Falling in Love | Elvis Presley | C | — |
| Hallelujah | Leonard Cohen | C | — |
| Have You Ever Seen the Rain | Creedence Clearwater Revival | C | — |
| Ho Hey | The Lumineers | C | — |
| House of the Rising Sun | The Animals | Am | — |
| I'm Yours | Jason Mraz | C | — |
| Imagine | John Lennon | C | — |
| Knockin' on Heaven's Door | Bob Dylan | G | — |
| Let Her Go | Passenger | G | — |
| Let It Be | The Beatles | C | — |
| Lyin' Eyes | Eagles | G | — |
| Redemption Song | Bob Marley | G | — |
| Riptide | Vance Joy | Bbm | 1 |
| Sloop John B | The Beach Boys | Ab | 1 |
| Something | The Beatles | C | — |
| Summertime | George Gershwin | Am | — |
| Take It Easy | Eagles | G | — |
| The Boxer | Simon & Garfunkel | C | — |
| The Times They Are A-Changin' | Bob Dylan | G | — |
| Unchained Melody | The Righteous Brothers | C | — |
| Wake Me Up When September Ends | Green Day | G | — |
| While My Guitar Gently Weeps | The Beatles | Am | — |
| Wish You Were Here | Pink Floyd | G | — |
| You're Beautiful | James Blunt | Eb | 3 |
Chord flow
What chord comes after Am?
Every number here is a count from the progressions in our song sheets, not a generalisation: 1560 chord changes are behind these figures.
Three-chord moves
Three-chord moves are where a chord really shows its character. These are the ones that actually happen in this library, counted from the sheets:
What other ways can you play Am up the neck?
3 more positions below. Learn one of these well and the rest become optional. The value of a second position is practical: it keeps your fretting hand near where the song is already heading.
Position 2 · Fret 2
Because nothing rings open, you can move this whole shape to any fret and it keeps the same quality — only the letter name changes.
Position 3 · Fret 5 barre
Every note here is fretted, which means the shape transposes anywhere on the neck without changing your fingers.
The barre is the only hard part of this shape. Keep the bar finger straight and use the weight of your arm rather than the grip of your thumb.
Position 4 · Fret 7
Every note here is fretted, which means the shape transposes anywhere on the neck without changing your fingers.
Up at fret 7 the frets are close together, so use a lighter touch than you would in the open position — squeezing here pulls the notes sharp.
Watch the Am chord
Video: JustinGuitar on YouTube — embedded with the official player; credit and views belong to the creator.
The theory behind Am
Am is spelled A – C – E — the 1 – ♭3 – 5 of the A scale, which is the root plus 3 semitones, 7 semitones. The darker, moodier counterpart of the major chord.
The flattened third is what makes it minor, so if Am sounds wrong the third is almost always the note being muted — check the string carrying it before you change anything else.
What key is the Am chord in?
Am is the i chord in A minor, the ii chord in G major and the vi chord in C major — the three keys where Am appears naturally.
the home chord of the minor key
the gentle predominant — often before the V
the relative minor — the major key’s shadow
Am on other instruments
2 0 0 0
The same chord on four strings in standard tuning. Because the uke is tuned higher, this shape sits at a different place on the neck than its guitar equivalent — useful when arranging for both instruments.
A – C – E — all white keys, so you can find the shape by counting up from C.
Take it to the practice room
