When do you play a barre chord rather than an open chord? (Page 1 of 2)

Rarely.  If I'm shuffling between F#m and G, I'll use the barre form of G.  Pretty much that's the only time I'll do it. 

- Big D

I use mostly barre chords for everything I play.
I really only use open chords when I absolutely HAVE-TO or if I'm playing "If I had a million dollars" (G-C-D-A7 chords close to each other).
Once my hand was strong enough and I had a guitar with a good neck, I started using barre chords and have barely looked back.

I can't play funk, reggae or ska type songs without barre chords. And for rock it just works easier with barre chords.
sometimes I use open chords if I'm playing something really melodic and airy.

Dm

Tops! Thanks for all the comments, just what I guessed really.  I have to admit, the more I practice them the better they sound although I haven't started on the A string chords yet.

I think it's swapping between the 2 will be be the problem!

Hey Crevs.1972.

When you have the same chords rotating over and over a good thing is to change the inversion or the order in which the notes that make the chord are fretted and played.

In Queen's "Somebody to Love" I play it with all open chords apart from the "somebody, SOMEBODY, somebody, SOMEBODY," bit which all takes place over a G chord, I play the first G open the second barre on 10th.

It's the same chord but it changes things a little.

Another reason is positioning of main chord group. If I'm playing mainly 7th to 10th fret I'm not going to zoom all the way down to an open C.

Finally the song demands it. In "Sultans of Swing" you play Dmin both barre and open AND play barre C and barre F in two positions each (3rd fret & 1st fret - 8th fret)!!!

It's all good! The more ways you have of doing a thing the more musical tools you have at your disposal AND the easier it is to learn new/different ways.

Cam - I've got a great chart showing most barre chords (maj, min, 7ths, etc for the whole fret board) in an easy to read format. I don't know where I got it from, but I'll scan it and email it to you when I get home this weekend. If possible, I'll post it here for everyone to print.

crevs.1972, minor and "7" barre chords are very simple with the "E chord" formation. Make a E-shape barre chord on the 1st fret, this is a barre "F" chord. Now, while holding your fingers in position lift your middle finger up off of the string. This barre "F" chord is now a minor chord. For a "7" chord. same principle, hold all fingers in position for a barre "F" chord, then simply raise your pinky up off the string - you are now making a F7 chord. This holds true with all e-shaped barre chord formations across the neck.

nela

Cheers, I knew the minor one but not the 7.

Hello Topdown,

    Do you think I could get a copy of that too please?

Thanks,
Dm

OK here's the chart as promised:

Pretty easy to read. Example: E shaped barre is an F with the barre on the first fret (duh). It's a G on the 3rd, A on the 5th, etc. The same pattern continues for all derivatives.

You should be able to print by clicking the chart itself or following the link to flickr where it is hosted. If not, shoot me an email and I will be happy to email a copy directly.

I think this is a great question and the number of replies with different opinions seems to prove that. Here's my two cents worth...
My answer is that there is no absolute answer. By that I mean there are so many variables to consider. For instance, are you only interested in playing on the couch at home or around a campfire with a few friends and some cold "pop"? If so you may not really need to work too hard on learning the barre chords and will be fine just playing open whenever possible (keeping in mind that some barre chords are "must haves" in your tool kit - such as Bm). But if you want your horizon to never really be in sight, you want to be able to keep expanding and really play at a high level you'll need the barre chords for various reasons. For instance, you will significantly grow your library of tunes you can play if you have barre chord abilities. Someone here mentioned "Sultans of Swing". That's a great example because it can be played with open or barred chords but most people agree the barre version is much better. Mark Knopfler once said he keeps things as simple as possible (of course everything is relative - simple for him is complex for most mortals). But his point is well taken - don't overly complicate a tune if you don't have to, but at the same time make sure you do enough justice to it. If it "should" be played barred, then its probably worth learning that way. Otherwise you end up with a simplified or "dumbed down" version.
At least that's how I look at it. Cheers!