If you have little hands...

[TyB]

Practicing on an electric helps me get over plateaus in technique. It's hard to practice a "move" on a guitar when it feels impossible! My electric makes it so much easier through very light strings and very low action. Then, I can take the strength built through electric reps and put it into the acoustic.

I've thought about getting a nylon string "crossover" guitar for the same kinds of practice, but I haven't gotten around to it yet because the electric is doing fine.

[rmp]

Originally Posted by Silly Moustache

I would counsel to learn what neck geometry suits your hands and your style - find the right tool for the job, not the other way around.

so a capo isn't a tool? I'm not sure I can follow where you're heading here Silly..

[mr. beaumont]

I really don't play that many barre chords when doing jazz style arrangements of Christmas tunes. I'm big on 3 or 4 note chords.

[Howard Emerson]

Originally Posted by Merlemantel

Barre chords suck. The holidays are here, and with them all kinds of great jazz arrangements, all of which have barre chords everywhere. I have been playing guitar most of my life, and I still find them difficult. Female, small hands, what is the magic sauce???
Leesa
addendum: a quick search tells me that this is a common discussion on this part of the forum. I will read suggestions on other threads. Thanks

Leesa,
I'll let this oft-posted video speak for itself.......and yes, you will see a barre chord played later in the video. Keep in mind they're playing full-sized guitars, and they are not full-sized people.



You can do it.

Regards,
Howard Emerson

[Merlemantel]

Originally Posted by Howard Emerson

Leesa,
I'll let this oft-posted video speak for itself.......and yes, you will see a barre chord played later in the video. Keep in mind they're playing full-sized guitars, and they are not full-sized people.



You can do it.

Regards,
Howard Emerson

I remember seeing this. And yes, it is amazing. These little ones are gifted and, let's just say, well rehearsed. I am hanging in there with my pursuit of barre chords.

[Mr. Jelly]

Partial chords. You can also allude to some chords by playing two strings.

[Merlemantel]

Originally Posted by Mr. Jelly

Partial chords. You can also allude to some chords by playing two strings.

I am working on workarounds

[The Bard Rocks]

I am always amazed at how people with obvious disadvantages (little hands, hamburger hands, missing digits, arthritis...) can still play as well as others who do not have those obvious problems. I've played with a one-armed fiddler and saw another fiddler play with a sock over his left hand, which had NO fingers. And if you didn't look, you'd think they were normally equipped. Things like that impress me.

Probably most of us, if we thought back on it, can recount adaptations we have made to continue to play. Merle, you may have more of these difficulties than most others, but if you want to bad enough, you'll find there are ways to accommodate - and no one will hear the difference.

[RJVB]

Originally Posted by The Bard Rocks

I've played with a one-armed fiddler

You mean you stopped the strings while s/he bowed? I could (presumably still can) play violin or guitar using only my right arm, but produce only 4 (or 6) distinct notes (plus their feasible combinations)...

[aK_bAsh7]

Originally Posted by JonPR

Right! I play mandolin, and the neck is way too small! (Good for lead playing, not so good for chords.)

You might find this Jazz guitar chord resource from Berklee of use:

https://guitarblogpy.files.wordpress...dictionary.pdf

Also, do you know how to use chord formulas? Many barre chords utilize duplicate chord tones that can be left out. Likewise, the 5th, unless it's sharped or flatted.

[Jwills57]

We used to have a joke at the guitar seminar I attended every summer that you spend your first three years as a guitar player desperately learning to play bar chords and the last fifty years desperately trying to figure out ways to play without them. Some truth in this, I think.

[The Bard Rocks]

Originally Posted by RJVB

You mean you stopped the strings while s/he bowed? I could (presumably still can) play violin or guitar using only my right arm, but produce only 4 (or 6) distinct notes (plus their feasible combinations)...

(laugh) No, I accompanied him; He did all the melody.

[rick-slo]

Barre chord use (full or partial) is one of the things that has an essential role in many of the solo instrumentals that I play.

[zuzu]

Originally Posted by Robin, Wales

When had this accident I thought that my guitar playing days were over. Turns out that it is just my barre chord days that are over! When a chord is too difficult for me to play fully then I shorten it to 4, 3 or just 2 strings. If it is still too awkward then I just play a few notes of the melody until an easier chord comes along. And nobody notices.

The capo is my friend. I use it to transpose a song/tune to open chord shapes that I can more easily use.

With a little bit of creativity I'm sure that you will be able to find workarounds yourself. It is surprising just how minimalist you can be and still carry the essential vibe of a song or tune.

Small is not my problem, hands like swelled hams and fingers like bratwursts is my problem, but the cure is the same; the capo, alt tunings, and triads are your friends, and sheer creativity is your bread and butter. Four tone chords a challenge? Noodle around with the tuning of that B string and you may find some compromise between the triads and four tones. Happy hunting!

[soma5]

If you are accompanying voice, which is common for holiday songs that many people know, then you don't need to play all of the extensions on a given jazz chord. Much of the time you can get away with just playing a dominant 7th, which is a lot easier on your fretting hand. The 3 and 7 are the most important notes to outline a chord.