Bar chords

Greetings,
I am not sure if this should go here or in the techniques....so i chose to put it here. I have been teaching myself guitar for about a half year now. My question i guess is simple, does anyone have tips for baring chords. No matter how much i practice, i can not get all the strings to ring. I am not sure if there is a technique behind how to bar. Hope that made sense. Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

Hey Magicman, I had trouble with barre chords also when I first started playing guitar. Here is a helpful link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBnS4uhaXAI
It took me a while to get barre chords down but keep practicing them and you will get it down!

I am fifteen months into learning guitar and have only recently sorted the F and Bm bar chords and am now getting quite confident. In my case for some reason I first mastered them with the guitar in the classical playing position and I also find they are much easier on my electric than acoustic. I followed the initial lessons on this site and at first was very frustrated but eventually you find the technique,your fingers strengthen and bingo it happens. Ironically it now feels as if I am only applying half the pressure I used to but I suspect my hand and fingers have developed enough power. Keep at it, be patient and you will get there. Nice feeling when you do!

In my experience, the problem most beginners have with barre chords is that their left hand position, specifically their thumb, is what holds them back from executing barre chords effectively. To help remedy this, I'd advise you start out by playing this:

---0---
---0---
---6---
---7---
---7---
---5---

Doing that shape will put your hand in the correct position, and it doesn't sound harsh. Get used to that and then gradually move to barring the b and e strings.