Where is your thumb barre chord

[Aspiring]

Originally Posted by KarenB

Where is your left thumb when you're playing a barre chord, in relation to the first finger? Does the position change as you move up the neck? A guitar teacher once told me that you should be able to barre a chord without using thumb pressure, but that has always seemed impossible to me. Thanks.

I tried this today and sure enough given that I play with a modified classical position I can play barrres without my thumb in place.

It does take more right arm forearm pressure than I normally use though.

A while back I went to relearn playing barre chords after playing for 20 years. I found that I was originally cheating and in fact they would only work well for E and A shapes as I wasn't fretting all strings evenly.

I looked at a lot of the advice on the Internet and started working with the right forearm change as well as fretting my barre index finger slightly more to the side and straightening it some. the thumb position and related left arm / shoulder all played into it as well. My thumb tends to follow classical guidance and I have also found higher up the neck getting the thumb more evenly spaced between the barre and the other fingers from the nut to bridge standpoint is important as well.

I also painfully worked through Spanish Romance as a piece and it really helped cement / improve barre technique.

[tbirdman]

Originally Posted by ljguitar

Hi Karen…

Three 1 minute videos on barre chords I did 15 years ago for friends and students…

This is certainly one way that has worked not only for me, but students as well.

Hope this adds to the discussion.

It's important to elevate the headstock which moves the fretting arm closer to the body. It also rotates the lower bout of the guitar so the strumming/picking hand is in a lower more relaxed position.

I struggle with barre chord, and now that I added a ukulele to the mix of my guitars, I've twice the amount of frustration.

You talk about keep the elbow away from the body, but that seems to me keeps the index hand rotating the wrong direction. That's if you are using the edge of the index finger opposite the thumb. (That's viewing the hand off the fretboard). I understand, and I agree with the concept of using the edge of the index finger.

I also thought you were supposed to keep the index finger parallel to the fret.

[TBman]

Whatever it takes for the OP to play the piece/song musically.

Generally my thumb is behind the neck in line with the barre, but I'm sure if there is also a stretch with my fretting pinky the position probably shifts a bit.

[Jaxon]

not trying to confuse the question but also learning and using alternative chord shapes vs full barre shapes will come in very handy, like 2-3 or 4 note chords. 1 moveable example Gmin7 3x333x