Bar Chords

Hey! I'm new to Guitar Tricks so I wasn't quite sure where to put this or if there was already a thread on the topic, so I apologize if it is in the wrong place or anything.
That aside, I am having a tough time with Bars and even just using the pads of my fingers to hold down even a couple of strings. Is there a good technique or exercise to practice this and improve in that area?

Hi Zanna

Christopher Schlegel has a good start to barre chords in GF2

And he is very helpful if you need advice (as are all the Instructors)

I tried to put a link to the lesson but I failed sorry.

The whole of his tutorial in chords is well worth following.

Good luck with your playing

Mike

Barre chords are the eternal enemy of the beginning guitarist. :mad:

I feel once you are comfortable with your barre chord shapes you are well on your way to playing about anything on the guitar. It should really be everyone's goal to get those down, as once you do so much opens up and your guitar playing life really becomes a lot more fun. Stick with it.

So much of practicing barre chords is just routine practicing and finger strength.

One thing I have students do in the beginning is simply practice placing your pointer finger across all six strings on one fret. Make sure it's at the bottom of the fret. Place that finger across the first fret and make sure when you pick each note you can hear it. Once you can hear each note you are fretting, than move to the next fret. It will get easier the further you move up the neck, so start there.

Hopefully this helps? :confused:

There's two factors to consider with barre chords. The mental challenges and the physical challenges.

Here's my advice for the physical challenges:
1. Index finger positioning is critical. A good place to start is to align your first knuckle with the second string. After you try that, you should hear an improvement. Adjust the vertical position of your hand up and down slightly to help with any remaining buzzes.
2. Roll your index finger on its side slightly. That puts more bone against the strings and less flesh.
3. Most of the challenge of barre chords comes from the lack of hand strength. The more you try, fail or succeed, the stronger your hand will get and your barre chords will sound better. Even if your technique is perfect, your barre chords may sound poor until you develop your hand strength. That leads me to the mental side of things....

Mental challenge:
1. Learning barre chords is a war of attrition. You have to be persistent and practice them every day to develop the hand strength you need. They will most likely sound terrible at first, but stay with it. They will gradually improve. Try not to get frustrated and discouraged. You will get it!

Originally Posted by: ZannaDawnI am having a tough time with Bars and even just using the pads of my fingers to hold down even a couple of strings. Is there a good technique or exercise to practice this and improve in that area?

Hey & welcome to GT!

As Mike_x1x mentioned my tutorials on barre chords in GF2 are the place to start:

http://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=450

Let us know how it goes. Best of success!

Originally Posted by: CSchlegelHey & welcome to GT!

As Mike_x1x mentioned my tutorials on barre chords in GF2 are the place to start:

http://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=450

Let us know how it goes. Best of success!

Just thought I would throw this out there for barre chord discussuion. I have been playing for only 7 weeks. When I started I got a used Epi Les Paul Standard and have been practicing barre chords and improving slowly. This weekend I got as a xmas gift a new mail order SX Furrian Tele copy which you would think would be inferior to the Epi Les Paul, right? I was amazed however that Barre chording was MUCH easier and cleaner sounding. So now I want to know what is the reason. Is it the string differences, the action height, the jumbo frets on the SX? Anyone have any thoughts?

In general does anyone know if thicker gauge strings would be harder or easier to Barre than thinner strings? It appears that the SX stings might be thinner than the Epi Les Paul's.

I just wanted to add a follow on question...I have been self taught for about 2 years now, and I joined guitartricks to "learn the basics," so to speak. I am finding a I have a big issue with barre chords, especially with the f chord, which seems to be the toughest to me. If I play a few in sequence, no issues...but going to and from F from an open chord is muy dificil. I CAN NOT play a 4 string or 5 string f-chord at this time. It seems this would help me play certain songs with alot more ease. Is this something I should continue to try to accomplish? or am I better off working on playing a full barred f chord and being able to transition to and from that chord more fluently????

Great site, by the way! I am having alot of fun and learning a lot here!

Zanna, what Douglas said plus just use the pointer finger for now (forget about the others). Place the big part of the thumb in the center of the neck at the back, lay the pointer finger right across all the strings and pinch the neck hard between finger & thumb. Get the index finger just behind the first fret. Roll the pointer finger backwards a slight bit (roll back towards the head of the guitar). Pluck each string slowly and make sure it rings true. Re-position the pointer finger very slightly until each note rings.

This will create the necessary hand strength and get you used to making the elusive barre. Practice this drill every day for maybe 5 minutes until you can do it easily, each note rings true every time (plupp = fail!) and your hand doesn't ache anymore.

Then progress to the useful F chord (actually it's the E chord shape but barred up one fret).