Moveable Chords 'A'

The Moveable "A Shaped Barre" - AKA Root 5 Barre Chords

The "A shaped barre" so called because it is based upon the open A major chord fingering. 


This is also known as a "Root 5 barre" because the root note of the chord is "barred" by your index finger. 


Once again you'll learn 12 Major chords in root 5 position once you have this 'shape' under your fingers. Of course, just as with the root 6 chords, you'll need to learn all the notes on the A string (5th string), and once again we'll forget about the #s and b's' for the time being. 


Fig. 1 shows you all the notes on the 5th string (excluding #'s (sharps) and b's (flats) for now). 


Fig. 2 shows an example of the root 5 barre "A shape". This is the fingering for a C Major root 5 barre chord. Notice your index finger will barre the 3rd fret whist your Middle finger, will barre across the 5th fret.


Fig. 3 shows the notes for C Major. 


Fig. 4 shows the scale degrees - which you'll know are 1 3 and 5 since this is a major chord.

Root 5 Major Barre Chord Fingering

Root 5 Major

Root 5 Major Barre Chords (excluding #'s and b's)

John Lennon

Root 5 Minor Barre Chords

Root 5 Minor

Root 5 Minor 7

Root 5 (Dominant) 7th Barre Chords

Root 5 Dominant 7

A5 and the Root 5 Power Chords

'Open' A5 Power chord - Just use your index finger to barre from the 4th string 2nd fret...

Notes of the 'Open' A5 Power chord: A and C. Notice the A octave may also be played...

Scale degrees of the A5 power chord: 

1 (root note A) and 5 (5th note E)

Notice the A5 power chord is made up from its root note 'A' and the 5th 'E'. The open A (Root note, open 5th string) is played along with the 5th note 'E' (4th string 2nd fret). Here the A note on the 4th string 2nd fret is also played to "double up" on the A note giving the power chord a fuller sound. This octave note is optional. 


As we move down the fretboard we typically have 2 fingering options (fig 6. and fig 7.) for our R5 power chords.

Fig 5. showing the notes on the 5th string (excluding sharps and flats - we'll get those next). Figs 6 and 7 show the typical fingerings, Fig 6 shows, Index finger and Ring finger barre (just like a standard "A" shaped Barre). Fig 7 fingering utilises the Index finger barre but employs the ring and little fingers to fret the 5th and the octave. As you can see in fig 8. the notes of the C5 'power chord' are shown - with the root note 'C' on the 5th string 3rd fret, the 5th note 'G' on the 4th string 5th fret and the optional octave 'C' on the 3rd string 5th fret. 

Notice that the Low E, High E and B strings are not played!