IMPROVE THOSE BARRE CHORDS

[KDepew]

Tips for better barre chords

[tbirdman]

I've never seen the pull the elbow in advice. Makes perfect sense. I've messed with trying to learn barre chords (e-shape), but was never good. Maybe I should try again. However, I'm playing one finger barres on my harp guitar for this one song I'm learning, so I halfway there.

The toughest one for me when I was attempting to learn barre chords, is the A shape one. My teacher wanted me to finger the A shape separately while most I've seen online have advised to use the ring finger and just don't strum or mute the high E string.

One added more thing to the bucket list. LOL

[jim1960]

For those who play a lot of barre chords, fretboard radius can play a role in how cleanly those chords are played. I've found that the flatter the radius, the more difficult barre chords are. That may not be true for all, but it's held true for me.

[tbirdman]

Well thanks for Kevin's video, I decided to again attack ( I mean learn) barre chords. I discussed this with my guitar instructor, and she proposed learning Wild Thing. It uses E, A and D chords. She suggested using E shape and A shape barre chords.

I have the E shape down fairly well though I lack the speed to switch to it. A shape is much harder. She plays the A shape with 4 fingers. I find it tough to get all 3 of my fingers into one fret even though I play the A chord with three fingers. I see most instructors online use the ring finger to barre the three strings of the A shape while muting or not playing the high E string. My instructor says using three fingers gives her flexibility. I can play the A shape easier using the ring finger barre.

What's the consensus on how to best finger the A shape barre chord?

[Brent Hahn]

Originally Posted by tbirdman

I have the E shape down fairly well though I lack the speed to switch to it. A shape is much harder. She plays the A shape with 4 fingers...

Guess what -- hardly anyone has that kind of speed. I cheat it by sticking the bass note first, and then letting the other fingers bring up the rear. I'm sure I'm not the only one.

As for the A barre, it helps to consider context. if it's plain ol' rock and roll major, or I want to hang out my pinky and add some bluesy 6's and 7's, I'll do ring finger. Heading into a 9th or a passing diminished, ring finger. If it needs to be pretty or maybe have some vibrato, 4 fingers. If there'll be a minor, m7, 7, or maj7 coming along right after, usually ring finger but those things are case by case.

Late edit -- if you're gonna play 4-finger non-barre Majors (like, say F Major XX3211) elbow-in is a must. You can actually hurt yourself if you try that with your elbow out.

[nostatic]

Originally Posted by tbirdman

Well thanks for Kevin's video, I decided to again attack ( I mean learn) barre chords. I discussed this with my guitar instructor, and she proposed learning Wild Thing. It uses E, A and D chords. She suggested using E shape and A shape barre chords.

I have the E shape down fairly well though I lack the speed to switch to it. A shape is much harder. She plays the A shape with 4 fingers. I find it tough to get all 3 of my fingers into one fret even though I play the A chord with three fingers. I see most instructors online use the ring finger to barre the three strings of the A shape while muting or not playing the high E string. My instructor says using three fingers gives her flexibility. I can play the A shape easier using the ring finger barre.

What's the consensus on how to best finger the A shape barre chord?

The answer is "yes." I use both fingerings depending on the situation. If I need to change from A to Amaj7 to A7, then typically I'll use all fingers. If I'm just doing a sus4, I can do that from either fingering. It really depends on what chord you're doing next rather than the A itself.

As for switching E to A barre, like anything it is just deliberate practice. I got very fast doing it playing electric back in my youth, and same for variations of E and A barre (Dom, maj, min, 7). I've found the best way is to either play along with a song where you have to do it, or better still, get the metronome out and start slow changing chords back and forth, then over time increase the tempo.

As much facility as I have with barre chords, I'm doing Jens Larsen's online jazz course and realize I never practiced arpeggiated chords on guitar (did on bass but that is all parallel 4ths). And oddly enough, I can do descending 3rds very fast with my eyes closed but ascending 3rds can be a struggle. Just an artifact of not working all the fundamentals on guitar so many years back, so some things are under my fingers (based on songs/solos I learned) and others are not.

So this old dog is working on new tricks (with a metronome) every day. And it can be frustrating. 6 chords are a shape I haven't played much, and I'm relearning dom7 shapes that *aren't* barre as I typically would use a barre chord variation for most everything. Jazz doesn't really work that way

[airborne1]

Originally Posted by jim1960

For those who play a lot of barre chords, fretboard radius can play a role in how cleanly those chords are played. I've found that the flatter the radius, the more difficult barre chords are. That may not be true for all, but it's held true for me.

I find this to be very true!

[tbirdman]

Originally Posted by nostatic

The answer is "yes." I use both fingerings depending on the situation. If I need to change from A to Amaj7 to A7, then typically I'll use all fingers. If I'm just doing a sus4, I can do that from either fingering. It really depends on what chord you're doing next rather than the A itself.

As for switching E to A barre, like anything it is just deliberate practice. I got very fast doing it playing electric back in my youth, and same for variations of E and A barre (Dom, maj, min, 7). I've found the best way is to either play along with a song where you have to do it, or better still, get the metronome out and start slow changing chords back and forth, then over time increase the tempo.

As much facility as I have with barre chords, I'm doing Jens Larsen's online jazz course and realize I never practiced arpeggiated chords on guitar (did on bass but that is all parallel 4ths). And oddly enough, I can do descending 3rds very fast with my eyes closed but ascending 3rds can be a struggle. Just an artifact of not working all the fundamentals on guitar so many years back, so some things are under my fingers (based on songs/solos I learned) and others are not.

So this old dog is working on new tricks (with a metronome) every day. And it can be frustrating. 6 chords are a shape I haven't played much, and I'm relearning dom7 shapes that *aren't* barre as I typically would use a barre chord variation for most everything. Jazz doesn't really work that way

I just seems for me impossible to use the A shape using all four fingers say at the 5th fret. Just no way to get all three finger in the 7th fret on my OM28. I can see it possibly OK on my classical. I would love to be able the flexibility of use of using all fingers. For now I will work with the A shape with two barres.