A-Minor Chord Variation for Guitar

Working with some of my guitar students in Concord and Walnut Creek CA recently, I took the time to show them some A-minor chord variations for guitar.

One of the first chords you typically learn when taking guitar lessons is the open A-minor chord. To add some enhancement and color to songs using the A-minor chord, try the following:

On your first down strum (Beat 1 of 4 beats per measure) remove your left hand 3rd finger. Now string 3 has no finger. This changes chord name to A-minor 7th. Cool sound but now brace yourself.

For second down strum on your guitar slide your left hand Am7 (A minor 7th) formation up two frets known as a whole step.  This creates a lush and very rich but dissonant sound known as a Bm7/A. When you see a slash after chord name, the letter name to the right of slash indicates the bass note thus the open 5th string is known as the “A”.

Then on final strums on beats 3 and 4 of this simple one measure pattern you must do following: Put your left hand 2nd finger on fret 5 string 4 and your left hand 3rd finger on fret 5 string 3 and with strumming hand strum downwards from 5th string. This will give your guitar a rich sound with the open strings. This guitar chord is known as an A-minor 9th. 

You can apply this to any song where you have 4 strums for A-minor. An example would be Bob Dylan’s “Knocking On Heavens Door”. The song starts by two down strums for G and for D and then goes to 4 strums for A-minor. Then it does two down strums again for G and D and finishes with 4 strums on C. That’s the complete song.

Try playing it on your guitar with the A-minor chord formations and I think you’ll love the sound by adding the variation to the song. 

Want a free guitar lesson on this and other cool chord variations, email me and let’s get started (new guitar or banjo students only).

Guitar & Banjo Lessons
Walnut Creek – Concord, CA
(925) 695-7060