A Major Chord on 12-String Guitar
Play A Major on 12-String Guitar: diagrams, finger positions, intervals, and every voicing up and down the neck for this instrument.
The A Major chord is a bright, stable major triad — one of the first chords most players learn. It is built from the notes A, C#, E. This page shows how to play A Major on 12-String Guitar with clear fretboard diagrams and suggested finger positions.
The A and E strings ring open in the lowest shape, with the remaining notes fretted at fret 2. The E string stays silent, so 5 of 6 sound. The root is the A string itself. It sounds from A2 up to E4. 5 voicings are charted, the highest starting at fret 9.
12-String Guitar is strung in six courses of two, the lower four paired an octave apart, so each stopped note here sounds as two — which is why the shape rings thicker than the same grip on a single-strung instrument.
Browse alternate voicings to find the one that sits best under your fingers, then compare it with the other chord types built on A or explore the same shape in nearby keys. The diagrams list the notes in each voicing so you can connect the shape to the theory behind it.