The key of A Major contains seven chords:
- A Major
- B minor
- C# minor
- D Major
- E Major
- F# minor
- G# diminished
Here is a chord chart containing the most common ways to play each of the chords in the key of A:
- Chord chart all 7 chords
3 Note Voicings in the Key of A Major
The above seven chords are derived by taking the A Major scale and ‘stacking 3rds’ on each note of the scale. For example, the first chord (A Major) is derived by taking the first note of the A Major scale (A), and then adding a 3rd (C#) on top of the A and then another 3rd from C# (E).
pic of A Major scale and notes pointing to A C# E cluster
This three-note voicing (A, C#, E) is an A Major chord and is the first chord in the key of A Major.
We can then follow the same process for every note of the A Major scale, to produce seven chords:
- A Major (A, C#, E)
- B minor (B, D, F#)
4 Note Voicings in the Key of A Major
The above chords are essentially triads, which means that each chord contains three notes. We can also produce the same seven chords, but with another 3rd stacked on top, which gives us 7th chord voicings.
Because there are still only seven notes in the A Major scale, there are still only seven of these 7th chord voicings:
- A Major 7 (A, C#, E, G#)
- B minor 7 (B, D, F#, A)
Triads vs 7th Chords
Each chord in the key