Topic: Katie [F] barre the door!

I'm struggling here and short of sliding the capo around I'm coming up short on forming the "F" - the nemesis of beginners. Any tips?

Re: Katie [F] barre the door!

Practice til it hurts. When you play an E chord do it with middle, ring and pinky. Barre that 1st finger over. You may have to bring your elbow in towards your body a bit more and make sure your thumb is right in the middle of the back of the neck. Now practice. A lot!

Is anything really made up of zeros and ones??

Re: Katie [F] barre the door!

Forgot to say..... Welcome to the forum.

Is anything really made up of zeros and ones??

Re: Katie [F] barre the door!

Q: "Is anything really made up of zeros and ones??"
A: Redheads!
smile

Re: Katie [F] barre the door!

The position of your wrist is critical in forming a bar F and the position of your first finger is the key as alvee has pointed out bring your elbow in towards your body place your first finger on the fret and roll it to the back(left) so its positioned on the side of your finger  this will cause your wrist to move to the right and bring your elbow into the side of your body also try to place your finger directly behind the fret not touching it and work at it till you can hear all 6 strings clear smile

"Growing old is not for sissies"

6 (edited by cytania 2009-06-18 14:54:21)

Re: Katie [F] barre the door!

Keep reminding yourself that once you get this barre sorted you'll be well placed for B and then barre chord playing in general. It can still be hard switching between barres and open chords rapidly. But once you've got it you'll find yourself sliding up and down. So a G/F shuffle is just a matter of moving the shape two frets. Obviously you don't want to keep shooting up and down the neck but I see some players do it (check the YouTube for Johnny River's Mountain Of Love).

'The sound of the city seems to disappear'

Re: Katie [F] barre the door!

naolslager wrote:

Q: "Is anything really made up of zeros and ones??"
A: Redheads!
smile

Um....I love binary and I love redheads even more....

But I don't get it...

sad
Dm

"Talent instantly recognizes genius,
but mediocrity knows nothing more than itself."

-Sir Arthur Conan-Doyle

Re: Katie [F] barre the door!

Redheads are typically gorgeous...or not. A 10 or not. Or in binary 0110 or not.

Re: Katie [F] barre the door!

When starting bar chords, practice the forms higher up the neck, say 7th to 9th fret or so.  Much easier to do there.  As you get more confident, slide down a fret every few practice sessions.

"There's such a fine line between genius and stupidity."
                              --David St. Hubbins

Re: Katie [F] barre the door!

You could also try raising the neck higher so the frets are easier to get at.

"Don't play what's there, play what's not there." Miles Davis

Re: Katie [F] barre the door!

Actually 10 (dec) is 1010 (bin). sorry.

Re: Katie [F] barre the door!

One other thing no one has mentioned naolslager is to be sure your thumb is positioned to give you the best leverage. Move your thumb and wrist around a bit till you find that sweet spot where your forefinger has the most power with the least effort  smile

Ron

Re: Katie [F] barre the door!

Progress but slow. Thanks for the tips.

Re: Katie [F] barre the door!

You can also start with a 4 string version of F ( XX3211), before you graduate to the full barre. It means you can play tunes with an f and still practice the full barre.

"Don't play what's there, play what's not there." Miles Davis

Re: Katie [F] barre the door!

Hhhmmmmm!

Redheads.

Very piquant!

<-----<< On an even field, only talent prevails! >>----->
   Gans Gwarak da yn dorn yu lel, gwyr lowen an golon!
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Re: Katie [F] barre the door!

naolslager wrote:

Redheads are typically gorgeous...or not. A 10 or not. Or in binary 0110 or not.

Hahahaha....okay, now I get it!!

Good one!


=p
Dm

"Talent instantly recognizes genius,
but mediocrity knows nothing more than itself."

-Sir Arthur Conan-Doyle