Originally Posted by: NickFerra
One more thing. The chord progression of Bm, G and A like I talked about earlier. I play them as Barre Chords. Man they hurt my hand SO MUCH after a little while. My hand gets in so much pain. I can make them sound really pretty for about a minute but then they start hurting really bad and the sound of the chords really sound crappy afterwards the longer I play. I am worried about it because one day when we are playing a show I don't want to suffer so much in front of people. Any suggestions?

What you're describing is a really common problem. The chords will become easier the more you play them, and your endurance will improve, but even so, lengthy barre chord playing can still be a challenge. I find the same thing as you... it starts off good, but there's a time limit for how long I can keep playing barre chords, and then my hand gets a bit crappy and the chords get sloppy. Some of it for sure is tension... so learning to relax will help in the long run.

In the mean time, see if you can look at different voicing or inversions of chords that make them easier to play. I'm going to side step a whole bunch of theory, and just give a simple example: Lets say you want to play an Amin chord... the notes are A, C, and E. Just figure out places on the fretboard where those notes are close enough together, regardless of order, that you can play them easily as a chord. There will be multiple possibilities and fingering options... just go by what sounds good, and what is comfortable to play. You may find you don't need a full, six or five string barre chord for what you want, but that instead, that just three notes cover the chord to your satisfaction. If not, then you're stuck with the barre chord... and endless, endless pain.... (ok, its not that bad, but you have my sympathy!) :)