Re: barre chords

OK, don't discount any advice given here, it's all sound!

Hotel California by the Eagles gives great strumming technique and the chord progression is Bm F# A E G Em F#.  Bm, F#, A, G, can all be played as Barre Chords and makes for great practise.

Wait for it, this is great.... David Bowie's Space Oddity has C played as Barre on 8th fret, to F to G to A.  You don't need to move your fingers as such, just widen them a little as you move toward the nut.  You keep the basic shape, move along a significant amount of fretboard and it sounds... spot on!

Practise Practise Practise.   If your fingers don't hurt practise more!

Stay cool enjoy life and rock out always!

BoneDaddy

I'm the son of rage and love

Re: barre chords

arkady wrote:

Hi BeatleFan
At two months of playing you should not even be thinking of playing barre chords. It's way to early the physical strength needed just won't be there.

I'm gonna respectfully disagree with this.   

You should be thinking barre chords the instant you pick up the instrument.  I think what needs to be tempered at two months is the expectation that you'll play them cleanly.  But there is no reason at all that developing the needed hand strength to play them should start on day one.

Barre early, barre often!

Someday we'll win this thing...

[url=http://www.aclosesecond.com]www.aclosesecond.com[/url]

28 (edited by mryansisland 2007-10-22 04:00:59)

Re: barre chords

Hi
just went through chordie historical references regarding Barre Chords, found interesting stuff and many things that are being stated here.  I found a couple of references about lowering the action on your guitar, would really help.  I have a washburn guitar not sure how I go about doing that, dont want to do damage etc.. but is any one able to expand on this thought.
Life's better when you PLAy (barre chords)

"There's no such thing as too much kindness".

Re: barre chords

thanks so much for all your advice. i will keep practicing! i am determined to get it right big_smile thanks for your support.

Re: barre chords

There's some great reference material and barre chord tabs at www.nofretguitarlessons.com.au it's worth looking at.

Re: barre chords

Lowering the action is one thing, having your guitar "set-up" correctly is another.  Unless you're an expert guitar repair person, the set-up should be left to those who know!  I've seen players tried to adjust their own truss rod and snap the neck!  Not good! 

When a guitar is set up correctly, the action should be at its lowest.  Without any fret buzz or uneven spacing from fret 1 to fret 22 (if you have that many.)  My local music store charges $50 including strings to set up an acoustic guitar.  The action is nice and close, and I don't have to press as hard to get a clear sound from chords.


mryansisland wrote:

Hi
just went through chordie historical references regarding Barre Chords, found interesting stuff and many things that are being stated here.  I found a couple of references about lowering the action on your guitar, would really help.  I have a washburn guitar not sure how I go about doing that, dont want to do damage etc.. but is any one able to expand on this thought.
Life's better when you PLAy (barre chords)

Re: barre chords

pls help! i still find it hard when it comes to barre chords. pls is there any thing i need to do or not getting right?

Re: barre chords

Hi Chimmy, welcome aboard the Chordie express.

Don't know how long you've been playing, so my first thought is just practice. A few other tips, keep your elbow close to your body and pull with your arm, don't squeeze with your hand. Maybe tip the neck up a little bit so you can get your hand around the neck more. Keep your index finger straight and roll it over a little to the side.


Check out Justin's lesson
http://justinguitar.com/en/CH-006-BasicBarres.php
http://justinguitar.com/en/BC-161-F-chord.php


Good luck and keep practicing!!!

Keep Rockin!!!!!!!!!!!

Re: barre chords

on the subject of barrs,i said to myself when they stop hurtin i will have nailed them,,there still hurting sad

Re: barre chords

Jerome has it pretty much nailed down in his answer,I keep my guitar next too me so when I watch tv I will usuelly pick it up and run through some chords, this helps to build and maintain strength.

my papy said son your going too drive me too drinking if you dont stop driving that   Hot  Rod  Lincoln!! Cmdr cody and his lost planet airman

36 (edited by naolslager 2010-11-25 13:06:30)

Re: barre chords

Nealy,
Holy Crap, you've mastered major and minor chords in a few months?! I must not be holding my mouth right:) Been at it for almost two years and barre chords are still only dreams (or nightmares( for me. Good work.
David

37 (edited by patrickjacques 2010-11-25 13:56:44)

Re: barre chords

one day you will look back having forgotten of your struggle with barre chords only to realize that you are stuggling with something else. good news is it feels great when you get things down. the thing about guitar is there is always something you want to get down, you never stop being challenged and you never stop learning new things. bottom line...practice,practice,practice

what a long strange trip it's been

Re: barre chords

I whined and whined about making barre chords.  However, making the E position with the pinky, ring and middle fingers and using the index finger for the barring, it got easier and easier.  Play an E,A,B  song, practicing sliding up and down the neck, it begins to get easier.   

It didn't feel natural to keep the index finger on the neck and  was constantly sliding off my strings, losing my place, etc.   My friend would practically want to smack my index finger down.  "Keep that index finger on the fret", he would say.   It is your guide to where you are going to go.    Finally!  It is getting easier.

[url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qI7y9ivs5Y[/url]  lol
[url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEyW2SEHfzM[/url]
[url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0WeJjPLqyQ[/url]
[url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkcYALHslEY[/url]

39 (edited by tfsails 2010-11-27 01:47:22)

Re: barre chords

A trick I used learning barre chords was just what Gabby suggests.  I started playing the E, Am. and A open chords using only my middle, ring, and pinky fingers.  This led me to build up the muscle memory with those fingers.  After that, it was relatively easy to use the index finger to add the barre. 

An extra advantage to using the last three fingers is that you can alternate fingerings to give your hand a rest during a song. 

If I had it to do over again, I'd learn on an acoustic before going to an electric guitar (which is the way I learned).  The action on acoustics is generally higher than electrics, so chords are more difficult to play.  In fact, IMHO an acoustic is harder to play than an electric--period.  I'd much rather go from hard to easy than from easy to hard.

Re: barre chords

Going from a hard-to-play guitar to an easy one, you notice your speed increases as well as your ease at making difficult covered chords.

We pronounce it "Guf Coast".
Ya'll wanna go down to the Guf?

Re: barre chords

One important item, that I have not seen discussed in this thread, is the way you hold your guitar while learning (playing) barre chords. Are you sitting down or standing up? If you are just beginning to learn barre chords I suggest you practice while sitting. Also, keep the guitar neck tilted upwards and back (little bit) so you can see the fret board. If you practice while standing, get your strap adjusted to where the guitar rests higher across your chest (and keep the guitar neck at an upward angle) Its not very much fun to just form and strum barre chord after barre chord but it is important until you develope some finger strength and muscle memory. After you get the basic patterns down (E shape and the A shape barre chords are the easiest) you can begin to learn some easy 3 chord songs. Start in the key of C as this is an easy progression - C, F and G and only requires mimimal finger movement.

Form an open C chord and strum. (for the F chord you already have your ring finger, 3rd fret 5th string as an anchor - DON"T MOVE IT)

Now form an E shape barre chord with your (middle, ring and pinky) index finger at the 1st fret (DO NOT MOVE YOUR RING FINGER FROM THE OPEN C POSITION YOU WERE JUST STRUMING) This is an F chord and strum.

From the F chord, keep all fingers (middle, ring and pinky) down in the same position and slide up the guitar neck to where your index finger is now on the 3rd fret (middle, ring and pinky are still in the basic E position) - this is a G chord. And strum.

Once you have this 3 chord progression down you are ready to play hundreds of songs - by adding a capo there are now thousands of songs you can play with this 3 chord progression.

Also, keep in mind that while practicing your barre chords to not forget your minor and 7 chords. As an example when playing a E shaped barre chord you can lift your middle finger from the string and you now have a minor chord - if you lift up your pinky you now have a 7 chord.

Try this and see if it helps.

Nela

Re: barre chords

Not wanting to cause controversy but I have to say I disagree with Nela over the guitar position.

Having the guitar tilted back makes barre chords even more difficult to play, in fact tilting it back makes any chord more difficult to play as your wrist ends up in an unatural angle. I suggest you learn any chord but especially barre chords in front of a mirror to see the fretboard and keep the guitar and your wrist in a normal position.

Roger

"Do, or do not; there is no try"

Re: barre chords

Roger Guppy wrote:

Not wanting to cause controversy but I have to say I disagree with Nela over the guitar position.

Having the guitar tilted back makes barre chords even more difficult to play, in fact tilting it back makes any chord more difficult to play as your wrist ends up in an unatural angle. I suggest you learn any chord but especially barre chords in front of a mirror to see the fretboard and keep the guitar and your wrist in a normal position.

Roger

Good post, tilting the neck back, even a little, will put extra strain on the wrist and put your thumb in the wrong position on the back of the neck and one of the key issues when learning to play barre chords, or any chord for that mattter, is a lack of strength. The fretboard should ideally be angled at 90 degrees to the floor. Don't only stick to 3 chord songs either, to play a minor when using the E shape just lift your middle finger, when playing the A shape make the A minor shape, lo and behold you just opened up a whole load of songs, 7th's is even easier. The more you play, the easier it gets.

The key is not to be frightened of barre chords and use the whole neck, try it and once you have the physical strength you'll wonder what the all the worry was about barre chords. Play songs you already know but instead of using open chords, use barre chords, this willgive you an opportunity to build upyour strength and muscle memory without the additional problem of learning new songs.

Jerry

Live the life you love, love the life you live

Re: barre chords

Well, it seems as though my post has caused some issues with a couple of our members. Now, having said that, I do agreed with them but I don't disagree with my statements, entirely. I would be the last person to broadcast poor practice methods as that just defeats the purpose. But, having been told this by instructors in Denver, Co. as well as in Houston, Tx. plus other folks I have played music with I cannot totally disagree with my statements.

When I said to keep your guitar higher across your chest, I believe that is helpful. How any one can play correctly with their guitar somewhere between their belt buckle and their knees, I just don't know.

When I said to tilt the guitar "up and back a little bit" I should have clairfied that statement, somewhat. In holding the guitar neck at a 90 degree angle to the floor I believe this caused more stress on the wrist and fingers than holding the neck 100 to 110 degrees to the floor. To me that "slight upwards" angle" helps with my 60 year old hands and wrist. As far as tilting the neck back I should have stated ONLY enough that you can actually see over the fret board so you can see the proper finger placement on the strings. And this is only a minute amount. Once muscle memory takes over this method can be disregarded. I have tried practicing while looking in a mirror but that just causes me problems.

So, having stated all this I welcome any and all comments as this post should be interpeted only as being helpfull. I cannot count the number of times where someone has stated that there is no "right or wrong" way to practice BUT bad practice habits NEVER will be helpful in moving forward with your ability.


Nela

Re: barre chords

I agree with you NELA.  There was a picture somewhere in one of the other threads of good posture and the correct way to hold a guitar.  Here is what it showed.  OK, for right handed people, we always put the guitar on our right leg which causes the guitar to be at a 90 degree angle with the floor.  The correct way, it stated was to put the guitar on your left leg, which brings the neck of the guitar up higher and this way is easier to hold chords bnecause  the left wrist ends up being straighter.  I don't play this way, but it makes a lot of sense.  Stick to your guns, NELA.

You can see all my video covers on [url]http://www.youtube.com/bensonp1000[/url]
I have finally found happiness in my life.  Guitars, singing, beer and camping.  And they all intertwine wonderfully.

Re: barre chords

thinking  back I believe I started by playing partial barre chords which I found a bit easier, what I mean is just barring the bottom G and E strings. it gets you by until you master the full barre. this may not be the proper way to go but it worked for me.

what a long strange trip it's been

Re: barre chords

hello everyone i just joined this forum its has helped me alot by finding the songs etc. but I too am struggleing with barre chords. I started playing the guitar in the begining of this school year(about 4 months). My teacher taught me to learn all the basic chords with chord progressions, but for some reason i can not seem to find any chord progressions for barre chords. i am able to play the F and the Fm but that is all i know.

Can some please address me to a website that has barred chord progressions. i would really apreciate it.

Thanks so much guys.

René

Re: barre chords

zguitar wrote:

Hi Chimmy, welcome aboard the Chordie express.

Don't know how long you've been playing, so my first thought is just practice. A few other tips, keep your elbow close to your body and pull with your arm, don't squeeze with your hand. Maybe tip the neck up a little bit so you can get your hand around the neck more. Keep your index finger straight and roll it over a little to the side.


Good luck and keep practicing!!!

That idea of pulling with my arm and not just trying to squeeze with my hand has been very  helpful. Now my B major barre chord sounds less muddy, and Bm and Fm sound more secure.

Thanks!

Re: barre chords

Yeah I didn't even start to think of playing barre chords until I had been playing for at least a year. Now I am starting to use them a little at a time. Hotel California is the one that I use for practice, but I am always on the lookout for more songs that use them. All I can say is practice and then practice some more. You'll eventually get better.

Good luck!

I love deadlines, I love the whooshing sound they make as they fly by. (Douglas Adams)

Re: barre chords

rene101 wrote:

hello everyone i just joined this forum its has helped me alot by finding the songs etc. but I too am struggleing with barre chords. I started playing the guitar in the begining of this school year(about 4 months). My teacher taught me to learn all the basic chords with chord progressions, but for some reason i can not seem to find any chord progressions for barre chords. i am able to play the F and the Fm but that is all i know.

Can some please address me to a website that has barred chord progressions. i would really apreciate it.

Thanks so much guys.

René

Hi René and welcome to Chordie,

Being able to play the fully barred F  and Fm chords after only 4 months is quite an achievement, well done.

So if you can play F you can also play F#, G, Ab, A, Bb, B, C, C#, D, Eb, E and the minors to each. Use these barred chords in place of open chords in songs that you already know to familiarise yourself with their locataion to practice using them.

Roger

"Do, or do not; there is no try"