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Courses/Stage 1

Your Second Chord: Am

Elementary7 minWith just two easy chords

Am has a hand shape much like Em's, and once you've got it you can switch back and forth between the two chords.

Video lessons are in production — follow the notes and practice checklist below and you'll learn it just fine.
Stage 1 · Play Your First Song5 lessons

You're on lesson 2 / 5 in this stage

Show all 5 lessons
  1. Your First Chord: Em6 min
  2. Your Second Chord: Am7 min
  3. Chord Change: Em ↔ Am8 min
  4. Add a Strum: Your First Accompaniment8 min
  5. Full Practice: Play Your First Passage9 min

How to fret Am

Press the 2nd string, 1st fret with your index finger, the 4th string, 2nd fret with your middle finger, and the 3rd string, 2nd fret with your ring finger. The thickest 6th string isn't played (it's an X on the diagram), so pluck starting from the 5th string.

Be careful not to strum the 6th string with your right hand. Pluck slowly string by string first, confirming the 5th through 1st strings are all clear.

Its relationship to Em

Compare them: in Em your middle and ring fingers are on the 2nd fret of the 5th and 4th strings; in Am you shift those two fingers as a unit one string toward the treble (to the 4th and 3rd strings), then add the index finger on the 2nd string, 1st fret. Understanding this relationship makes switching faster.

⚠️ Common mistakes

  • Strumming the thickest 6th string with your right hand (Am doesn't play the 6th string) — start plucking from the 5th string.
  • Pressing too low when the index finger frets the 2nd string, so it also mutes the open 1st string.

Chords in this lesson

Tap the 🔊 under each diagram to match every chord's sound to its shape.

✕231

Go play these

Songs that fit this lesson's technique and chords — pick one and practice in the library:

Practice checklist

  • Fret Am on its own and pluck string by string from the 5th to the 1st (without sounding the 6th string).
  • Release and re-fret Am, repeating 10 times.