Bar chords advice needed.

PaulF · #1 09-08-2009, 02:25 AM

Ok guys ... I am looking at Romanza as my FIRST attempt at anything other than strumming. Got halfway through the first section quite easily and now I got to the bar chord shape at the 7th fret. Starting with string 1 low E, 7XX877 arpeggio. I am finding it difficult to keep the notes clear. Is this just practice or is there a trick that I don't know about.

Strangly though I play bar chords all the time and I don't usually have this problem, but then I don't usually finger the higher strings in a bar!

Any help would be very much appreciated.

Herb Hunter · #2 09-08-2009, 05:47 AM

I know an anonymous song called, Romance, sometimes referred to as, Romance d'Amour, Jeux Interdits (Romance), Spanish Romance, or Estudio en Mi de Rubira, and it may be the same song that is giving you trouble. (The song was used as the theme for the '50s French movie, Jeux Interdits (Forbidden Games), and many people heard the song for the first time upon seeing that movie.) Some beginners have problems with certain bar chord formations because of their thumb placement. In such cases, moving the thumb down to the middle of the neck back should help. This allows one to place one's fingers closer to 90 degrees with respect to the fingerboard where they are less likely to cause muffling problems than if they are held in a flatter position.

If you are holding your left hand correctly, then it is probably a matter of practice. One thing that helped me with troublesome chords was to simply practice forming the chord alone until I had it right and then trying it within the song.

PaulF · #3 09-08-2009, 06:10 AM

Hi Herb ... that is the song. I will try your suggestion. Thanks

ljguitar · #4 09-08-2009, 11:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PaulF

Ok guys ... I am looking at Romanza as my FIRST attempt at anything other than strumming. Got halfway through the first section quite easily and now I got to the bar chord shape at the 7th fret. Starting with string 1 low E, 7XX877 arpeggio. I am finding it difficult to keep the notes clear. Is this just practice or is there a trick that I don't know about.

Strangly though I play bar chords all the time and I don't usually have this problem, but then I don't usually finger the higher strings in a bar!

Any help would be very much appreciated.

Hi Paul...
Lots of things to consider, but this video is a good tutorial on it...

Romanza - click

Hope this helps...