# Amaj7, the A major 7 guitar chord

Amaj7 floats. Songwriters reach for it when plain A is too cheerful and they want something dreamier. It lives in the same neighborhood as A, but the index drops back to the 1st fret, and the middle finger above it loves to lean over and mute that note. Keep both on their very tips.

Amaj7

## How to play it

- Index finger on the G string (3rd), 1st fret.
- Middle finger on the D string (4th), 2nd fret.
- Ring finger on the B string (2nd), 2nd fret.
- Let the open A string (5th) and high E string (1st) ring.
- Don't strum the low E string (6th). It stays silent in this shape.

## Changes to practice

Holding Amaj7 still is the easy part. Songs need you to _arrive_ at it in rhythm, so in Strumhold you practice Amaj7 as changes, alongside the rest of the Open Major 7ths set:

- [Amaj7 ↔ Dmaj7](https://strumhold.com/chords/d-major-7/) A major 7 to D major 7 [Drill](https://strumhold.app/#/drill/pair/A.maj7.A~D.maj7.D)
- [Amaj7 ↔ Gmaj7](https://strumhold.com/chords/g-major-7/) A major 7 to G major 7 [Drill](https://strumhold.app/#/drill/pair/A.maj7.A~G.maj7.G)
- [Amaj7 ↔ Cmaj7](https://strumhold.com/chords/c-major-7/) A major 7 to C major 7 [Drill](https://strumhold.app/#/drill/pair/A.maj7.A~C.maj7.C)

## Same root, different color

- [A](https://strumhold.com/chords/a-major/), A major
- [Am](https://strumhold.com/chords/a-minor/), A minor
- [A7](https://strumhold.com/chords/a-7/), A dominant 7
- [Am7](https://strumhold.com/chords/a-minor-7/), A minor 7

## Hear yourself get faster

Strumhold listens to your guitar through your device's mic, a headset, or a line-in from your audio interface. You drill a chord change to a metronome and it scores every single change. Free, no account, works offline.

[Drill Amaj7 in the app](https://strumhold.app/#/drill/pair/A.maj7.A~D.maj7.D)