Quote:
Originally Posted by ljguitar
Playing barres successfully is not a strength move; it's a positioning move.
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Definitely.
Most adults hands are plenty strong to handle the pressure needed to barre, but it's a matter of using the hand in a way it's likely not been used.
I always advocate rolling the finger back slightly toward the nut, so the knuckle is not straight up but leaning towards the tuning pegs a bit.
It's also important to use the thumb properly for support, take it slow, and work in higher fret positions (starting around the fifth fret or so with a "major" barre chord shape) and work your way down to first position...aside from playing way up the neck on a guitar with high action, a major chord barre doesn't get much tougher than the first one many people learn--the first fret F.