In this lesson we take a look at the A shape in the CAGED system. This A shape barre chord should be super familiar to most of you, so we'll mainly look at changing key, plus adding some melodic tones from the C major scale to this common shape with sus chords.
We are again playing a C chord, but this time using the shape of the A chord at the 3rd fret. The notes are the same as before, but fretted in a different order.
Lesson aims
- Learn to play the C chord with the A shape
- Experiment with sus chords and adding other notes from the major scale
- Try using this shape (and variations) in other keys
C major chord in the A shape

Exercise 3 - Playing around the C chord in the A shape