Hey Friend,

I've got eight variations on the A major chord for you today. I should say not all of them are truly A major, as I did include some suspended chords because of how they sound.

First off, I put A major on there, just for a reference chord so you can see how the sound morphs as notes are added or removed. You have your 5 1 3 notes with E, A and C# in order on the strings (the open A major triad shown is a 2nd inversion chord).

A major 7 (A7M) starts off with A, C# and E, and then adds the G# major 7 note. The note order shown in the exercise is A, E, G#, C# and E on strings 5 4 3 2 1, respectively. The scale degrees are 1, 5, 7, 3 and 5. 

The third system is not technically a major chord because there is no 3 note for A major (C#). It is a suspended 2 chord, meaning the 3 note is replaced by the 2 note from the scale. In the case of Amaj7sus2, we're combining the A7M chord with an Asus2 chord. The notes played from lowest pitch to highest are A, E, G#, B and E.

Fourth up is an Amaj7sus4. Like the previous chord it is suspended, so there is no 3 note from the scale. Suspended 4 chords use the 4 note instead of the 3 note. The notes are A, D, G#, D and E. 

The fourth chord is A6. A6 is a lot like A major 7 in that we're adding a note to the full major chord. In addition the the 1 3 5 notes, we bring in the 6 note from the A major scale, or F#. The notes in order are A, F#, A, C# and E.

System 5 is the Aadd9 chord. Again, we're "adding" an note to the full major chord. In this case, it is the 9 note or B (which is the same as the 2 note). Don't confuse this with a suspended 2 chord. Remember, a sus2 chord is missing the third scale degree (3 note). An add9 chord "adds" the 9 note to a full major chord. The notes in order are A, E, B, C# and E (1 5 9 3 5).

Next up is the Aadd11. Can you guess which note is added? The 11 note is the same as the 4 note, just one octave up. In this chord, the 11 note is D. Here are the notes in the chord: A, D, A, C# and E (1, 11, 1, 3, 5). Now if you're anything like me, you might be thinking, why don't we just call it Aadd4? I suppose you can, just don't confuse it with a suspended 4 chord.

Amaj79 adds in two notes on top of the A major chord. A, E, B, C# and G# are the notes in the chord - you get the A, C# and E of the A major chord, plus the 7 note which is G# and the 9 note which is B. They line up like this: 1 5 9 3 7.

Lastly, we've got an Amaj7add11. That's a mouthful! The notes by the numbers are 1 11(4) 7 3 5. Look at that. We're including five of the seven notes of the scale - 1 3 4 5 7. That's the beauty of the way the guitar neck is laid out. You can work in all these notes and create some really cool sounding combinations. As the notes are strummed, they are A, D, G#, C# and E.

Those should keep you entertained and more than busy. Try them out - they're all relatively easy and they sound great. Enjoy the exercises.

Peace~

Dave