A7 Guitar Chord (C7 Shape)
This A7 guitar chord uses the EXACT same shape as a regular C7 chord.
Here’s a C7 guitar chord:
To learn the C7 guitar chord, go here: C7 Guitar Chord
To play a A7 guitar chord, move the C7 shape up to the 12th fret of the A string. (5th string.)
Here’s the chord box for reference:
If you find this chord too difficult, learn this voicing:
- Place your 2nd finger on the 12th fret of the A string. (5th string.)
- Place your 1st finger on the 11th fret of the D string. (4th string.)
- Place your 3rd finger on the 12th fret of the G string. (3rd string.)
- Strum from the A string. (5th string.)
A7 Guitar Chord (A7 Barre Shape)
This A7 guitar chord is exactly the same as the regular open A7 chord, however this time we’ve moved the chord shape to the 12th and added a barre.
If you find this chord too difficult, you don’t have to use the barre. You can just move open A7 shape to the 14th fret.
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How Do I Practice The A7 Guitar Chord?
Here are 4 essential tips that you can use to practice the A7 guitar chord. ALL of these tricks can be applied to any chord in any key.
1) Every Time You Learn A New Chord, Squeeze Your Fretting Hand
Whenever you learn a new chord, squeeze your fretting hand. This triggers your muscle memory and teaches your hand to remember the guitar chord.
However, it’s vital that you can play the chord correctly BEFORE you squeeze your hand.
If you squeeze your hand when the chord is wrong, you will be teaching yourself to remember the chord incorrectly.
Here are 3 simple-steps you can follow to make sure that the chord is correct:
- Make sure that your fingers are in the correct place. (Always use a chord box for reference!)
- Make sure each note in the chord is clear.
- Make sure that you don’t feel any pain. Your fretting hand must be relaxed.
2) Practice The A7 Guitar Chord Without Looking At Your Fingers
The best way to try and remember a guitar chord is to try and play it without looking.
Here are 7 simple-steps you can follow which will help you perfect your guitar chords:
- Pick an A7 guitar chord to learn.
- Learn to play the chord correctly.
- Squeeze your fretting hand 5 times when the chord is correct.
- Take your fretting hand off of the neck.
- Look into a corner of the room. (Make sure you cannot see the fret board!)
- Try and play the A7 guitar chord without looking.
- Check if it’s right.
If the chord is right, great! Apply the same method to a different A7 guitar chord. If you didn’t get it right, don’t worry. Just repeat steps 1 – 7 again!
3) Practice Moving Between Each A7 Guitar Chord
A great way to practice the A7 guitar chord is to move between each chord from the lowest chord to the highest.
You would practice them in this order:
- Open A7 guitar chord.
- A7 guitar chord. (1 finger barre shape.)
- A7 guitar chord. (3 finger chord.)
- A7 guitar chord. (E7 barre shape.)
- A7 guitar chord. (D7 shape.)
- A7 guitar chord. (C7 shape.)
- A7 guitar chord. (A7 barre shape.)
Once you’ve mastered this, do the same technique but in reverse.
4) Learn Songs Which Use The A7 Guitar Chord
One of the best ways to practice guitar chords is to use them in musical situations.
Here are 3 of our favourite songs which use the A7 guitar chord.
1) A7 Blues
The dominant 7 chord is featured heavily in blues music. So, if you want to learn how to play an A7, learn an A blues!
Here’s the chord progression:
Here’s a backing track you can practice to:
2) ‘Before You Accuse Me’ by Eric Clapton
This song is a classic from Eric Clapton. Here are a few reasons why it’s fantastic to learn:
- It only uses 3 chords.
- It’s the same all the way through.
- The strumming pattern has a great bluesy feel.
To learn this song, go here:‘Before You Accuse Me’ Chords
3) ‘I Saw Her Standing There’ by The Beatles
This is a classic from The Beatles, it was one of their biggest hits back in the day! The A7 guitar chord is used frequently in this song.
To learn this song in more detail, go here: ‘I Saw Her Standing There’ by The Beatles
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