1-finger half-barre...on the LOW strings?

[RilesMcGiles]

Hi all!

I've been playing through a lot of Simon Fox pieces recently, and there are a couple of pieces where the fingerings require a half barre on the 6th, 5th, and 4th strings. However, you need to play the 3rd string open at the same time. I have seen this played out in other pieces, like Masaki Kishibe's Drifting Clouds, I saw Sungha Jung do it all the time. My finger can bend at the 2nd knuckle, but it barely does enough and I often mute the 3rd string.

Can any of you do this? Is it something that will bend more and more as I try to force it? I'm not trying to injure myself, but if any of you watch billiards you see a lot of bridge formations that require some similar bending of the first finger - I have to think that some of these players had to train there finger to do this?

My guitar has a 1-11/16" nut - maybe a wider nut would help? I do have fairly long fingers...

[rick-slo]

Fretting of strings one and or two at the same time? That would tough.

You can move your index finger a little beyond the edge of the fingerboard. That give more clearance for the open third string. Yes, you can do it.

[RilesMcGiles]

Thanks Derek. I messed around a bit and it does work - but the angle off the neck is probably less than 30 degrees - I see some players who jack there finger off 45 or more!!

[rick-slo]

Originally Posted by RilesMcGiles

Thanks Derek. I messed around a bit and it does work - but the angle off the neck is probably less than 30 degrees - I see some players who jack there finger off 45 or more!!

Good to hear that. Yes, joint flexibility varies (mine is on the lower amount but usually gets me by).

[Pdubs76]

Originally Posted by RilesMcGiles

Hi all!

I've been playing through a lot of Simon Fox pieces recently, and there are a couple of pieces where the fingerings require a half barre on the 6th, 5th, and 4th strings. However, you need to play the 3rd string open at the same time. I have seen this played out in other pieces, like Masaki Kishibe's Drifting Clouds, I saw Sungha Jung do it all the time. My finger can bend at the 2nd knuckle, but it barely does enough and I often mute the 3rd string.

Can any of you do this? Is it something that will bend more and more as I try to force it? I'm not trying to injure myself, but if any of you watch billiards you see a lot of bridge formations that require some similar bending of the first finger - I have to think that some of these players had to train there finger to do this?

My guitar has a 1-11/16" nut - maybe a wider nut would help? I do have fairly long fingers...

Can’t you just use three fingers instead or is it too tight space wise?

[rick-slo]

Originally Posted by Pdubs76

Can’t you just use three fingers instead or is it too tight space wise?

You could but: that is crowded too and also a relatively awkward hand position for most of would likely come next in the piece.

[JonPR]

Never had to do this before, but I just tried and I can - but not with the index parallel to the frets. Easier with it angled back around 45 degrees.

But - playing around with the other fingers - I just discovered a very nice chord: 1-1-1-0-3-3 (pinky barre on top two). F13sus4, or Emaj7/F.
It's the same chord played like this - 1-1-1-3-3-3 - but somehow that open 3rd makes it.

[rick-slo]

You can play around with the position. For example I like the sound of a
2-4-2-0-0-0 strum leading into x-2-4-3-4-x (say connected in between with x-x-x-x-4-x) starting off some melody line.

[Gitfiddlemann]

Originally Posted by JonPR

Never had to do this before, but I just tried and I can - but not with the index parallel to the frets. Easier with it angled back around 45 degrees.

Same here. Going at it perpendicular is doable, but much harder to do. Angling the index is the way to go.

[ljguitar]

Hi Riles
I taught intermediate and advanced fingerstyle for 40 years, and there is a difference in people's physical abilities based on not only dexterity, but the length of individual fingers.

I can not wrap the thumb on a traditional D chord shape and catch the 6th string above fret 4. I adapted my fingerings to play the chord shape with fingers 2-3-4, & reach over with my first finger to fret the 6th string.

There are many such adaptions in most proficient player's arsenals.

These physical limits do not only apply to guitarists, but to keyboardists as well. Franz Liszt had enormous 'span' and deliberately wrote music which fit only him because of the span of his hands. This made it nearly impossible for average pianists to play his scores without adapting them.

You can try shifting the 'notes' over a set of lower strings and up the neck where frets are shorter (the first fret is twice the width of the 12th fret). Moving up the neck and playing more selective versions with shortened amounts of notes is a valid way of dealing with adapting other's work. Even if it doesn't work for this piece, you may discover things which will work for other music.

Doesn't mean we can't try other's versions or arrangements which merely involve learning the positions and working them into our hands/brains.

[Charlie Bernstein]

Let your thumb do some of the work.

[Mandobart]

I've never tried it before, but after reading this post I found I can do it. But that's because my fingertip joints on all my fingers can go 90 degrees in the normal direction and 20 to 45 degrees in the reverse direction. The tricky part for me is not muting the 3 highest strings with my palm at the base of my fingers.

The thumb wrap and 3 finger "A" shape, and the "James Taylor" A shape (using fingers 1-3-2 low to high) works for me too.

But as pointed out earlier a lot depends on what's coming next