# Am, the A minor guitar chord

A minor is the E major grip moved over one set of strings, and the mood turns wistful. Pop and folk are full of it. Two things go wrong for beginners: strumming the low E string, which muddies the chord, and the index finger leaning back and silencing the high E.

Am

## How to play it

- Index finger on the B string (2nd), 1st fret.
- Middle finger on the D string (4th), 2nd fret.
- Ring finger on the G string (3rd), 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 Am still is the easy part. Songs need you to _arrive_ at it in rhythm, so in Strumhold you practice Am as changes, alongside the rest of the Open Minors set:

- [Am ↔ Em](https://strumhold.com/chords/e-minor/) A minor to E minor [Drill](https://strumhold.app/#/drill/pair/A.min.A~E.min.E)
- [Am ↔ Dm](https://strumhold.com/chords/d-minor/) A minor to D minor [Drill](https://strumhold.app/#/drill/pair/A.min.A~D.min.D)
- [Am ↔ Gm](https://strumhold.com/chords/g-minor/) A minor to G minor [Drill](https://strumhold.app/#/drill/pair/A.min.A~G.min.G)
- [Am ↔ Cm](https://strumhold.com/chords/c-minor/) A minor to C minor [Drill](https://strumhold.app/#/drill/pair/A.min.A~C.min.C)

## Same root, different color

- [A](https://strumhold.com/chords/a-major/), A major
- [A7](https://strumhold.com/chords/a-7/), A dominant 7
- [Am7](https://strumhold.com/chords/a-minor-7/), A minor 7
- [Amaj7](https://strumhold.com/chords/a-major-7/), A major 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 Am in the app](https://strumhold.app/#/drill/pair/A.min.A~E.min.E)