A# Chord On The Guitar (A Sharp Major) - Diagrams, Finger Positions and Theory (2024)

The A# Major chord enharmonically the same as the Bb major chord. As the A# chord does not contain any notes that can be played on open strings, there are no ‘open’ A# Major shapes.

Some Quick A# Chord Theory

The A# Major chord contains the notes A#, Cx (same note as D) and E# (same note as F).
The A# Major chord is produced by playing the 1st (root), 3rd and 5th notes of the A# Major scale.
The A# Major chord (just like all Major chords) contains the following intervals (from the root note): Major 3rd, minor 3rd, Perfect 4th (back to the root note).
The key of A# has following chords: A#, B#m (same as Cm), Cxm (same as Dm), D#, E# (same as F), Fxm (same as Gm), Gx diminished (same as A diminished).

10 Ways To Play The A# Major Chord

If you’ve come to this page just to view some chord diagrams for A#, here they are.

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Standard A# Chord Shape

The most common way to play the A# chord essentially the root-5 A# barre chord, played on the first fret. Often, as in the example below, the first finger does not actually form a barre, but instead simply plays the root note.

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Easy A# Chord Shape

The easy version of the A# chord is played on the first three strings of the guitar. Learning this simplified shape can be a good way to start using the A# chord if you find the barre chord versions too challenging.

How to Play the A Sharp Major Chord (Step by Step)

Place your first finger on the first fret of the fifth string.
Place your second finger on the third fret of the fourth string.
Place your third finger on the third fret of the third string.
Place your fourth finger on the third fret of the second string.
Without strumming the sixth string, strum the first five strings.

The instructions above are step by step instructions for playing the most common A# Major chord shape. These instructions can actually be super helpful when you feel like you’re interpreting the shape incorrectly. By going through the A# chord instructions step by step, you can verify that you’re playing the chord correctly.

Barre Chord Shapes for A Sharp

The A# chord can be played as a barre chord by playing a root 6 barre chord shape and starting on the 6th fret or by playing a root 5 barre chord Major shape and starting on the 1st fret:

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A# Major Triads

Playing the A# chord using barre chord shapes is the most common way of playing the chord. However, it is also useful to explore the chord using triads (including inversions). The A sharp Major triad can be voiced in the following three ways:

A# Major Triad (Root Position) – A#, Cx, E#
A# Major Triad (1st Inversion) – Cx, E#, A#
A# Major Triad (2nd Inversion) – E#, A#, Cx

Here are six different ways to play the A# Major triad (including inversions).

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Which Keys Have The A# chord in Them?

The A# chord can be found in the following keys:

The key of A# Major (A#, B#m, Cxm, D#, E#, Fxm, Gxdim)
The key of D# Major (D#, E#m, Fxm, G#, A#, B#m, Cxdim)

Keep in mind that the A sharp chord is harmonically the same as the B flat chord. Therefore, when you play the A# chord, you are also playing a Bb chord. However, we ‘use’ Bb much more than A#, because A# occurs in keys with obscure chords (Cxm, Gxdim etc.).

Alternative But Useful A Sharp Chord Shapes

The following shapes are alternative ways of playing the A sharp Major chord shape. They’re not the most common A# shapes, but used enough to include here as interesting alternatives.

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A# Chord Substitutions

The A# chord can often be substituted with the A# sus 4 chord, the A# sus 2 chord and the A# add 9 chord. The A# chord can also be used itself as a substitute for more complicated chords, such as the A# Major 7 chord, the A#7 chord, and other extension chords which have A# as the root note (it can’t be used in place of minor chords though!).

Which Scales Can Be Played Over the A# chord?

The most common and effective scales that can be used to solo/improvise over the A# Major chord, or to create melodies for the purposes of song writing are:

A# Major pentatonic scale – This scale will almost always work over the A# Major chord, in any context.
A# Major scale – This is the ‘default scale’ of the Bb chord.
A# Lydian mode – This scale can be used over the Bb chord in certain contexts to add a jazz flavour.
Bb Major Blues – This scale is particularly useful in a Blues context.