How to play A6 suspended 2nd chord on guitar
Shape xx7977
Shape characteristics
Closed voicing
Every sounding string is fretted, with no open strings. Tight, controllable tone that responds well to palm muting and dynamic picking.
Mid-neck · fret 7-9
Balanced tone, with neither the ringing openness of first position nor the bright snap of the upper register. Common choice for rhythm work when you want a fuller, more compact sound.
Four-string voicing
Compact and punchy. Easy to mute cleanly, cuts through a dense mix, and transitions quickly to other shapes.
Bass: A · Top: B
The root is in the bass, so the chord sounds grounded and stable. This is the natural starting voicing for most progressions.
Compared to Shape x04400 , this voicing uses an open chord and sits lower on the neck (starting at fret 4) and adds 1 more ringing string for a fuller sound.
How to play this shape
- 1 Place the 1st finger on the 7th fret of the 1st string, 2nd string, and 4th string in barre position
- 2 Place the 3rd finger on the 9th fret of the 3rd string
Frequently Asked Questions
What does "xx7977" mean?
The sequence xx7977 is a highly compact guitar chord notation. It represents the fret played on each of the 6 strings, reading left-to-right from the thickest (lowest pitch) string to the thinnest (highest pitch) string: E, A, D, G, B, e.
- x means the string is muted or skipped entirely.
- 0 means the string is played "open" (without pressing over a fret).
- 1-9 represent standard fret numbers 1 to 9.
- a, b, c... represent frets 10, 11, 12, and higher (where a=10, b=11, c=12).
Can I play this A6 suspended 2nd shape anywhere else?
Yes! This specific layout is just one way to voice a A6 suspended 2nd chord. You can find all other variations in our chord shape library for A6 suspended 2nd. Most guitarists choose different shapes based on whether they want a "brighter" or "deeper" sound, or which chord they are transitioning from.
Why do some strings have an 'x'?
Strings marked with an 'x' should not ring out. These notes are excluded because they don't belong to the A6 suspended 2nd chord or would clash with this specific voicing. You can mute these strings by lightly touching them with a finger that is already pressing a neighboring fret.
Other shapes
Showing 8 of 109 playable shapes