Members Goofball Jones Posted October 1, 2009 Members Share Posted October 1, 2009 I've been playing off and on for 30 years now and I've never been able to make a decent, consistent barre chord on an acoustic. I can get one about 60% of the time on an electric...but there's usually always a muted out string somewhere in there. I mean, I press down so hard all over every position on a fret with my barre finger to where it's hurting and yet there will be 2 or 3 strings that are muted out. I have a Martin D16. Should I look for a shorter scale and strings that border on super lite, electric ones? Or go to a nylon string guitar? It's frustrating...I practice all the time and just can't get it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frets99 Posted October 1, 2009 Share Posted October 1, 2009 Relax Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members JasmineTea Posted October 1, 2009 Members Share Posted October 1, 2009 Usualy it's because the pressure is being focused at the tip of the first finger. Relax your finger, and focus the fretting pressure on the second nuckle, the middle of the finger, and the first nuckle. Also, maybe your git needs a set up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gitnoob Posted October 1, 2009 Members Share Posted October 1, 2009 I'm just a noob, but the "trick" that worked well for me was to angle my finger across the chord. [YOUTUBE][/YOUTUBE] [YOUTUBE][/YOUTUBE] [YOUTUBE][/YOUTUBE] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Florida_Gator Posted October 1, 2009 Members Share Posted October 1, 2009 Wow, GREAT videos, gitnoob, is that you?That's gonna help me a lot! Thanks!You aint no gitnoob! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kit_strong Posted October 1, 2009 Members Share Posted October 1, 2009 I struggled with barre chords for awhile myself (although I've been playing nowhere near 30 years). Then one day my instructor gave me a handout with a fingering exercise on it. On the same page happened to be some text (and a picture about barre chords) and I thought I'd try what it says and next thing you know, consistent barre chords (granted I'm still a bit slow transitioning to them from open chords but when I get there it all rings clear).What did I learn? Well, it's not about how hard you can squeeze or how much finger strength. The trick is to pull your elbow in close to the body and drop your shoulder a bit. Then gravity does the hard work for you. Give it a shot. I'd bet good money it will work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gitnoob Posted October 1, 2009 Members Share Posted October 1, 2009 Wow, GREAT videos, gitnoob, is that you? No, I am a noob, and will be for a long time still. That guy's name is Larry, and he's a great player/instructor who contributes often at AGF. I think his username there is ljguitar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Florida_Gator Posted October 1, 2009 Members Share Posted October 1, 2009 No, I am a noob, and will be for a long time still. That guy's name is Larry, and he's a great player/instructor who contributes often at AGF. I think his username there is ljguitar. Is that what the Japanese characters in your avatar say? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members EdBega Posted October 1, 2009 Members Share Posted October 1, 2009 Nice videos and the thumb fulcrum thing really works ... never thought about it like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gitnoob Posted October 1, 2009 Members Share Posted October 1, 2009 Is that what the Japanese characters in your avatar say? Yes, but it's Chinese. The first character is a guitar (looks like a short-scale, eh?), and the second character is a noob falling over backwards trying to play. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members owlshead Posted October 1, 2009 Members Share Posted October 1, 2009 Yes, but it's Chinese. The first character is a guitar (looks like a short-scale, eh?), and the second character is a noob falling over backwards trying to play. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Hudman Posted October 1, 2009 Members Share Posted October 1, 2009 Sounds like bad technique. Barre chords don't require a lot of pressure. I doubt it's your guitar because you struggle with barre chords on the electric guitar too. I think you should consider sitting down with an instructor and let him / her look over your technique. You can do things wrong for 30 years and never realize it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Florida_Gator Posted October 1, 2009 Members Share Posted October 1, 2009 Sounds like bad technique. Barre chords don't require a lot of pressure. I doubt it's your guitar because you struggle with barre chords on the electric guitar too. I think you should consider sitting down with an instructor and let him / her look over your technique. You can do things wrong for 30 years and never realize it. That's what she said. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members hardrocker25 Posted October 1, 2009 Members Share Posted October 1, 2009 That's what she said. pull your elbow in and keep your arm in a "dead hang" position. Let the force of gravity pulling your weight down (your "dead arm") do the work. Also make sure your thumb (behind the neck) is behind your third finger rather than your first or second. Make sure your barring finger is turned slightly sideways because the side of your finger is much flatter than the bottom.Good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Selsaral Posted October 1, 2009 Members Share Posted October 1, 2009 I don't know if this will help you or not, but it definitely helped me: I learned them on the electric guitar first. Learning them from scratch on the acoustic was like climbing a mountain in one step. I couldn't figure out what the proper position was because even if I found it I still couldn't get any strings to ring. After 6 months of working on the electric (pick a song like Beast of Burden) I finally got decent electric guitar bar chord skills, and the exact same hand position and technique directly transferred to the acoustic. I've spent the last year building up the strength to get them to work properly on the acoustic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members knockwood Posted October 1, 2009 Members Share Posted October 1, 2009 I had a breakthrough some time ago when I realized that legs are stronger than fingers. So now I barre with my shin instead of my index finger. It takes a little bit of finagling to get comfortable with this, and you need to wear shorts all the time - or leather pants - but once you get used to it, there is no substitute. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members baldbloke Posted October 1, 2009 Members Share Posted October 1, 2009 I can't really give any better info about the physical techniques than the other posters are giving you. It's all good. However - I read, or heard, somewhere that part of the difficulty in mastering barre chords is that new players think they have to barre all 6 strings at the same time. The new players confidence takes a knock when they first try barre chords and find it very difficult. But bear in mind - You do not have to barre all 6 strings. (there are exceptions but generally true) E.g. Consider an F chord. 3 fingers are forming an E shape. So your index finger only has to correctly fret the remaining 3 strings. Only 3 - not 6. Whatever chord it is, usually your index finger has to do a lot less 'work' than you at first think. This is perhaps a different way to consider barre chords. It, in theory at least, makes barre chords a little less daunting for those who are having difficulty. My 2c (but I will want some change back) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Melodeous Posted October 1, 2009 Members Share Posted October 1, 2009 I've been playing off and on for 30 years now and I've never been able to make a decent, consistent barre chord on an acoustic. I can get one about 60% of the time on an electric...but there's usually always a muted out string somewhere in there. I mean, I press down so hard all over every position on a fret with my barre finger to where it's hurting and yet there will be 2 or 3 strings that are muted out. I have a Martin D16. Should I look for a shorter scale and strings that border on super lite, electric ones? Or go to a nylon string guitar?It's frustrating...I practice all the time and just can't get it. I've found that just a slight variation in neck size and/or shape makes/breaks successful barre chording. It's for that reason I'm having a neck reshaped on one of my guitars. I've made templates of a shape that suits me well and will be sending them with the guitar to a tech this month. I used to think it was me but after playing many different necks I realized it comes down to just that. Ergonomics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members larry50 Posted October 2, 2009 Members Share Posted October 2, 2009 Funny, I never had problems forming barre chords. Seemed to come pretty naturally (unlike the rest of my technique). I must say that I angle my index finger as well, but this is how it naturally falls for me on the fretboard. Try not pressing so hard. The harder you press, the less control and feel you have, and the more likely you will mute a string or two. Try relaxing. It takes a lot less pressure than you think to fret a clean barre chord. If nothing else works, follow Hud's advice and seek out a professional for a look-see and barre chord lesson. It might be your action is too high, but if you have had problems that long, it sounds like long ingrained bad technique to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members baldbloke Posted October 2, 2009 Members Share Posted October 2, 2009 Darn, you just made me re-examine my own barre chord ability. I found that after a few minutes of playing only barre chords my index finger weakens and I start playing duff notes on the barre. I'm going to have to adjust my technique and improve stamina. Something else for me to try to improve on. I'll be watching those video clips posted by Gitnoob again. Like you, I have been playing on and off for about 30 years. I once asked a guitar tutor what I was doing wrong when playing Bb with just two fingers (index and ring finger) 'cos I was dulling the high E string. I've never really been comfortable with that chord. He told me that most players do the same. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members owlshead Posted October 2, 2009 Members Share Posted October 2, 2009 Darn, you just made me re-examine my own barre chord ability. I found that after a few minutes of playing only barre chords my index finger weakens and I start playing duff notes on the barre. I'm going to have to adjust my technique and improve stamina. Something else for me to try to improve on. I'll be watching those video clips posted by Gitnoob again. Like you, I have been playing on and off for about 30 years. I once asked a guitar tutor what I was doing wrong when playing Bb with just two fingers (index and ring finger) 'cos I was dulling the high E string. I've never really been comfortable with that chord. He told me that most players do the same. You could always play Bb on the 6th fret E shape I have been playing on and off for over 25 years... the Bb on the first fret has good and bad days... I have short arms so that probably doesn't help for me... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members baldbloke Posted October 2, 2009 Members Share Posted October 2, 2009 You could always play Bb on the 6th fret E shape Yep. Good idea. That's what I tend to do but it doesn't 'quite' sound the same in some contexts. This thread just made me realise I've been ignoring yet another weak point in my playing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members owlshead Posted October 2, 2009 Members Share Posted October 2, 2009 Yep. Good idea. That's what I tend to do but it doesn't 'quite' sound the same in some contexts. This thread just made me realise I've been ignoring yet another weak point in my playing. yes, you are quite correct, sometimes it really should be at the first fret... If I know I have Bb first fret I just work on it a bit... play it through a few times... until I start nailing it... usually comes with a little warm-up and off you go... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bugeyed Posted October 3, 2009 Members Share Posted October 3, 2009 Several posters here have recommended pulling the elbow in & droping the shoulder to facilitate the playing of a barre chord. I have always heard to keep the elbow out away from the body & the shoulder relaxed. That works for me, anyway. Sometimes all it takes to get everything working together & efficiently is to raise the neck of the guitar. The higher position sometimes brings the arm, wrist, hand angles into the proper alignment. Good luck, kev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Michael Martin Posted October 4, 2009 Members Share Posted October 4, 2009 {censored} barre chords. They are dead-hearted, the lot of 'em. Use power chords: let freedom ring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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