On the guitar, the A7#5 chord is the 7th sharp 5th chord built from A, C#, F, G. Its first guitar voicing is the movable voicing: low E string at fret 5 (little finger); A string open; D string at fret 3 (middle finger); G string open; B string at fret 2 (index finger); high e string at fret 3 (ring finger). Keep this page open while you practise: it lists the notes, every practical voicing, the mistakes that make it sound wrong and the progressions where it does its best work.
What notes are in the A7#5 chord?
The A7#5 chord is a 7th sharp 5th chord, and its notes are fixed: A, C#, F, G. Every voicing on every instrument uses these same notes, in some order and in some octave — change one of them and you are playing a different chord. The table below lists each note with its interval from the root A, so you can see the structure of A7#5 at a glance. On the guitar, start with the first voicing above and listen for the notes A, C#, F, G in A7#5.
| Note | Interval |
|---|---|
| A | Root |
| C# | 3 |
| F | #5 |
| G | b7 |
The root is A, the note the chord is named after and the note your ear hears as home. Above it, the intervals in A7#5 are 3, #5, b7. That combination is what makes A7#5 sound the way it does: the intervals decide the colour, and the root decides the pitch. On the guitar, the notes appear in the order the fingering dictates, but the set of notes never changes.
A7#5 sounds tense, bright and exotic — the sharpened 5th ({sharp5}) makes the dominant chord sound like it is leaning forward. The colour is strongest when all the notes ring clearly. A muted chord tone, especially the 3rd or the 7th where the chord has one, flattens the character of A7#5 noticeably. On the guitar, the movable voicing voicing is the place to hear it in A7#5.
Comparing A7#5 with its closest relatives helps to fix it in your ear. In short, 7#5 against dominant 7th: A7#5 raises the 5th to F where the plain dominant 7th keeps the perfect 5th E. The raised 5th adds lift and tension at the same time. Play both chords slowly, one after the other, and notice which note moves. Naming that note out loud while you play is the fastest way to learn the difference. On the guitar, the movable voicing of A7#5 puts those notes under your fingers in the order the fingering lists them.
How to play A7#5 on guitar
On the guitar, A7#5 has 3 voicings in the data below, and each one uses the same notes — A, C#, F, G — in a different place on the neck. There are 3 voicings listed for A7#5 on the guitar; learn the first, then add the others as you need them. Finger numbers below use 1 for the index finger, 2 for the middle finger, 3 for the ring finger and 4 for the little finger, and x means the string is not played.
Another way to play A7#5 is the movable voicing, in around fret 2: low E string at fret 5 (little finger); A string open; D string at fret 3 (middle finger); G string open; B string at fret 2 (index finger); high e string at fret 3 (ring finger). The stretch is the challenge: the fretted notes span from fret 2 to fret 5, so keep your thumb low behind the neck and let your fingers reach rather than squeezing the neck. Strum or pluck it slowly first and check that every note in A7#5 — A, C#, F, G — sounds, with no buzz and no accidental open string.
The barre chord puts A7#5 in around fret 2: low E string at fret 5 (little finger); A string open; D string at fret 3 (middle finger); G string at fret 2 (index finger); B string at fret 2 (index finger); high e string at fret 3 (ring finger). It barres across strings 4 to 5 at fret 2 with the index finger. The barre is the hard part: the index finger must press every string from 4 to 5 evenly at fret 2, so roll it slightly onto its bony side and keep it close to the fret wire. If the barre buzzes, move it a fraction closer to the fret and press from the arm, not the thumb alone. Strum or pluck it slowly first and check that every note in A7#5 — A, C#, F, G — sounds, with no buzz and no accidental open string.
For the movable voicing, A7#5 sits in around fret 2: low E string at fret 5 (ring finger); A string open; D string at fret 3 (middle finger); G string open; B string at fret 2 (index finger); high e string at fret 5 (little finger). The stretch is the challenge: the fretted notes span from fret 2 to fret 5, so keep your thumb low behind the neck and let your fingers reach rather than squeezing the neck. Strum or pluck it slowly first and check that every note in A7#5 — A, C#, F, G — sounds, with no buzz and no accidental open string.
Choosing between the voicings of A7#5 is a musical decision, not a right-or-wrong one. The open or low-position voicing rings the most and suits strumming, while a barre or movable voicing lets you slide A7#5 up the neck to any key without changing the shape. When you change chords, pick the voicing of A7#5 that sits closest to the chord before it — shorter moves between shapes mean faster, cleaner changes. Practise the change into A7#5 from the chord that comes before it in your song, not the chord on its own, because the move is the skill. On the guitar, the movable voicing voicing is the place to hear it in A7#5.
A short practice routine for A7#5 on the guitar: play the first voicing four times slowly, checking each note, then change to it from the chord a fourth above A and back, four times, at a slow tempo. Then play the second voicing the same way. If a note buzzes, stop and fix the finger placement rather than playing through the buzz — clean notes at a slow tempo become clean notes at full tempo, while buzzes practised fast become habits. Use the Guitar Chord Finder to see the diagram for A7#5 while you practise, and the Chord Finder to compare it with the same chord on other instruments.
Common mistakes
These are the mistakes that most often make A7#5 sound wrong on the guitar, and each one has a concrete fix. Work through them one at a time rather than trying to fix everything at once.
Confusing it with the augmented triad. The augmented triad has no 7th. A7#5 adds the flattened 7th G to the augmented triad — that 7th is essential. On the guitar, the movable voicing of A7#5 puts those notes under your fingers in the order the fingering lists them.
Using it as a tonic. A7#5 is an altered dominant. It wants to resolve to the tonic a fourth above its root. On the guitar, the movable voicing voicing is the place to hear it in A7#5.
Voicing it too low. F low down can sound muddy. Keep the sharpened 5th in a higher octave than the root. On the guitar, the movable voicing of A7#5 puts those notes under your fingers in the order the fingering lists them.
Barre collapsing on the high strings. In a barre voicing of A7#5, the high strings are the ones that buzz first, because the index finger presses hardest near the thumb. If the top notes of A7#5 sound dead, roll the barring finger slightly toward the fret and press from the arm, not from squeezing the neck. On the guitar, the movable voicing of A7#5 puts those notes under your fingers in the order the fingering lists them.
Where A7#5 is used
A7#5 is not a diatonic triad in any major or minor key, because it is an extended or altered chord, but its base triad belongs to the key of D major, the key of E major, the key of A major. an altered dominant in jazz, where the sharpened 5th adds tension before a resolution. As a dominant-type chord it also points toward D major, the key a perfect fourth above A, which is the tonic it most often resolves to. That is where A7#5 does its work: not as a home chord, but as a chord that creates movement and then resolves. On the guitar, the movable voicing voicing is the place to hear it in A7#5.
Because A7#5 is an extended or altered chord, it appears in progressions as a colour or a dominant rather than as a diatonic staple. Try it in place of the plain A triad in a progression you already know, and listen to how the extra notes change the feel — that substitution is the usual way extended chords enter real music. The Chord Progression Builder lets you try A7#5 in a progression in any key and hear how it connects to the chords around it. On the guitar, the movable voicing voicing is the place to hear it in A7#5.
The same chord on other instruments is covered in A7#5 on piano, A7#5 on ukulele, A7#5 on bass, and the scales that fit over it are the A major scale and the A minor pentatonic scale. Learning A7#5 on the guitar and then checking it on another instrument is one of the best ways to fix the notes — A, C#, F, G — in your memory, because the notes stay the same while everything else changes.
Practising A7#5
A short worked example makes A7#5 concrete. Play the four-chord progression D – A – Bm – G in D major, the key A7#5 most often resolves toward: D – A – Bm – G. Play each chord for one bar at a slow tempo, and listen to how A7#5 sounds in that sequence — whether it feels like home, like a lift, or like a chord on its way somewhere else. Then play the same four chords in a different order, starting on A7#5 itself, and notice how its character changes when it opens the progression instead of sitting inside it. On the guitar, the movable voicing of A7#5 puts those notes under your fingers in the order the fingering lists them.
For a second exercise, play A7#5 and then the chord a fourth above A, back and forth, four times each. That move — a chord and the chord a fourth above it — is the most common resolution in Western music, and it is the move A7#5 is built for when it acts as a dominant. Finish by playing A7#5 on its own, slowly, and naming each note out loud as you play it: A, C#, F, G. Naming the notes while you play them is what turns a shape into knowledge you can use in any key. Test yourself with the Practice Chord Quiz and keep time with the Metronome as the tempo rises. On the guitar, start with the first voicing above and listen for the notes A, C#, F, G in A7#5.
Frequently asked questions
What is the easiest voicing of A7#5 on the guitar?
The movable voicing is the easiest voicing listed for A7#5 on the guitar: frets 5–0–3–0–2–3, fingers 4–0–2–0–1–3. Learn that shape first, get every note ringing cleanly, and only then move on to the alternative voicings further up the neck.
What notes are in A7#5?
A7#5 contains A, C#, F, G: root A, major 3rd C#, sharpened 5th F and flattened 7th G. The sharpened 5th is the note that makes it an altered dominant. On the guitar, the first voicing above shows where that note sits.
What is the difference between A7#5 and A7?
A7 has the perfect 5th E; A7#5 raises it to F. A7#5 sounds tenser and more exotic, and it is used as an altered dominant in jazz. On the guitar, the first voicing above shows where that note sits.
Where is A7#5 used?
A7#5 is an altered V chord in jazz and minor-key progressions, used before a resolution to the tonic. It adds lift and tension to a dominant chord. On the guitar, the first voicing above shows where that note sits.
How do you play A7#5 on the guitar?
The first voicing is the movable voicing: frets 5–0–3–0–2–3, fingers 4–0–2–0–1–3, on the guitar. That voicing uses the notes A, C#, F, G, and it is the one to learn first. The page above lists more voicings for A7#5, so you can choose the shape nearest the chords around it.