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About the Am chord

The Am chord (minor) is made up of 3 notes — A is the root, C the minor third and E the perfect fifth. Flattening the third of a major chord by a semitone is what makes it minor and gives it that sadder color.

On guitar, Am chords are most often played in open position: x02210. Let the open A and high E strings ring, and leave the low E string out. The diagrams above show 4 playable voicings in all.

Minor chords have a darker, more reflective color — the natural counterpart to major.

Open Am in the interactive finder →

Common questions

What notes are in the Am chord?

The Am chord contains the notes A, C and E.

How do you play Am on guitar?

A common open-position shape is x02210. The diagrams above show 4 playable voicings you can strum or hear.

What intervals make up the Am chord?

The Am chord is built from the root (A), a minor third (C) and a perfect fifth (E).

More than a chord chart

The chart above is just the start. Open Am in the finder to hear it on guitar and piano and browse every playable voicing side by side. Or switch to Name my chord — tap frets or keys and MobileChords identifies the chord you're playing, inversions and slash chords included.