How about that B minor Chord

[Bill Tyers]

Try and think of the B minor chord as an A minor played at the 2nd position. Try fingering your A minor chord with 3 4 2 fingering from bass to treble, then move the formation up to the 2nd position and bring your 1st finger to hold the 5th and 1st strings only. Remember you only need to hold these two strings down with your first finger. Most beginners attempt to place the bar across all 6 strings, which is a complete waste of effort and results in tiredness and creates unnecessary tension in the fretting hand.

[Bill Tyers]

Try and think of the B minor chord as an A minor played at the 2nd position. Try fingering your A minor chord with 3 4 2 fingering from bass to treble, then move the formation up to the 2nd position and bring your 1st finger to hold the 5th and 1st strings only. Remember you only need to hold these two strings down with your first finger. Most beginners attempt to place the bar across all 6 strings, which is a complete waste of effort and results in tiredness and creates unnecessary tension in the fretting hand.

[shufflebeat]

Originally Posted by macmanmatty

When you cheat at learning guitar you're really only doing what everyone else has always done.

Ftfy.

If you want to play like others, learn "the rules" and play by them. If you want to be unique, learn the underlying principles, then do it your way.

Neither is wrong. This is not school.

For the record, I can bring to mind at least three other fairly conventional ways of playing Bm which I use when appropriate, depending where I'm coming from/going to. Having a good understanding of why they work in context is more important, in my opinion and experience, than fretting over the "proper" way to play.

The diagrams are an abstract representation of the musical framework. They are rarely an accurate representation of what guitar players do in real life and should not be fixated on to the point of anxiety.

Other opinions are equally valid.

[wkbryan]

Originally Posted by Nymuso

The best solutions have been described above and come down to just learn how to barre the Am. However, in the meantime . . . .

. . . can you thumb over while playing a D far enough to catch the 5th string at the second fret? If so, this will give you a B bass under a D chord, which, if you look at the notes you're playing, will yield a Bm7 chord. Not ideal in all situations but applicable in many.

Another work around would be to lift your middle finger from an open D and bring it over to catch the 5th sting second fret B. As a fingerpicker, I do this often since I can play only the strings I want, but if you do catch that open E it wouldn't be the end of the world; you would simply be adding a 4 over the Bm giving you a Bm11. Also not always ideal but you might find it fits many situations.

Between being self-taught and the inability to rotate my arm/wrist as much as most people, my chord fingering is often different than what is common, and I simply can't barre chord (OK, I can do a 4 string Fm and move it up the neck). I frequently use the D chord with a B in the bass as described, though my fingering is a bit dfferent. If that just won't work I can mute the A on the G string to get rid of the 7th.

Hang in there, keep practicing, and don't be afraid to try some options while you're working on it. Good luck!

[macmanmatty]

..............

[macmanmatty]

Originally Posted by shufflebeat

Ftfy.

If you want to play like others, learn "the rules" and play by them. If you want to be unique, learn the underlying principles, then do it your way.

Neither is wrong. This is not school.

For the record, I can bring to mind at least three other fairly conventional ways of playing Bm which I use when appropriate, depending where I'm coming from/going to. Having a good understanding of why they work in context is more important, in my opinion and experience, than fretting over the "proper" way to play.

The diagrams are an abstract representation of the musical framework. They are rarely an accurate representation of what guitar players do in real life and should not be fixated on to the point of anxiety.

Other opinions are equally valid.

I agree with you but that's not what I'm talking about. If you say "I can't play that big mean ol nasty barre B minor chord I'm just gonna give up and use a Bm7 instead x20202 every time I see a B minor " then you will never learn a barre bm chord and hence never even that have tool in your box. The more tools you have in your box a guitar player the better. You're cheating yourself on the learning part not the playing part. That what I was saying. Also don't change other peoples quotes.

[Riverwolf]

sometimes we forget it is called playing...
Physically I cannot play barres.
I reverse fingers 3 and 4.

[SunnyDee]

Originally Posted by Riverwolf

sometimes we forget it is called playing...
Physically I cannot play barres.
I reverse fingers 3 and 4.

Just curious. Do you mean you reverse it from this image? Do you also reverse it when you play Am and any other 5th string minor shape? Do you reverse the 6th string major E shape, too?

I definitely encourage the OP to be able to play the full chord - it's really not that hard, but I would also encourage experimenting with fingering.

I use less common fingering on a number of chords. In open position, I keep the orientation of my middle and ring finger the same for G, C, Em, and Am (so ring on top), but most people don't.

On the barre shapes, though, I keep them as they are here, because I only need to straighten my index finger to be the full bar, so it depends on the context which I would be using.

I finger D funny, too, the way James Taylor does, because it flows into the shapes above more easily. I devised that on my own when I was teaching myself the same way JT did. I didn't know it was odd till later. But I use a mini barre for D in open position if I'm going to be playing in D or A or moving to Bm barre... as I said, context, and, for me, lots of anchoring and looking for the most effecient, smoothest transition.

[rick-slo]

Basically you don't like barre playing chords. Among 2nd fret barre chords the Bm barre is one of the easier chord shapes to play.
A good guitar action setup is critical to having any fun with barre chords in general.

[mattbn73]

Finger the full chord, but understand that it sometimes takes a while to get a great sound on all strings.

I tell my students to learn the chord without barring the 1st string at first, just to practice the change.... So: X24430 or X2443X at first. (The 1st string is one of the least important pitches to that chord quality.) Prioritize good clean tone ringing from the 2nd string (the 3rd of the chord, which makes it minor), and build from there. Most people who feel unhappy with the sound are muting the thirds of the chord too much, in both E-form barres ave A- forms.

When you get to the point of adding the barre on the 1st string, be aware that you only have to hold down the 5th and 1st strings. Especially on Bm, you can even leave a pretty relaxed bend in your finger and get those strings ringing well. People mostly over-emphasize holding down EVERY SINGLE STRING of the barre.

You'll see this in the way many players play this chord, especially if they're not thinking about it.

[Riverwolf]

Originally Posted by SunnyDee

Just curious. Do you mean you reverse it from this image?

Yes.
I reverse the the third and fourth fingers.
I have bad arthritis in both pinkies.
However I am able to get by with this modified Bm chord.

[raysachs]

Originally Posted by Riverwolf

sometimes we forget it is called playing...
Physically I cannot play barres.
I reverse fingers 3 and 4.

This is the form I tend to play when I'm otherwise playing open chords, just as I play a similar 4 note version of the F when I'm playing open chords. When I'm doing a song that's mostly barre chords, I play the full barre, which is almost always the case on electric, but only occasionally on acoustic.

You can also just play the Bm triad on the three highest strings, but I don't find it much easier or harder to grab the extra F# on the D string. And it sounds just a bit fuller that way too.

Someone suggested playing the full barre (which is the only way to go if you want the root note as the lowest bass note) by adjusting your Am shape to the way you'd play it if you had to play it as a barre, leaving out the index finger. But to me, the more typical Am shape just works with lots of quick changes between Am and Am7, C, E, E7, D7, Dm, etc, that changing my approach to the Am just to make the Bm easier would be cutting off my nose to spite my face, or tossing the baby out with the bathwater, or whatever the right expression would be here.

So I just continue to play the occasional clam with the Bm and continue to have faith that someday it'll come as automatically to me as playing any of the other open chords...

-Ray

[shufflebeat]

Originally Posted by macmanmatty

I agree with you but that's not what I'm talking about. If you say "I can't play that big mean ol nasty barre B minor chord I'm just gonna give up and use a Bm7 instead x20202 every time I see a B minor " then you will never learn a barre bm chord and hence never even that have tool in your box. The more tools you have in your box a guitar player the better. You're cheating yourself on the learning part not the playing part. That what I was saying.

Perfectly valid alternative perspective.

Also don't change other peoples quotes.

I'm afraid that will happen in the real world from time to time. You may have to come to terms with it.

[paulp1960]

The B minor being discussed here is not that difficult for somebody with a good few years of playing behind them. I play with 2 friends regularly and we can all easily play that chord shape in any position on the neck.

Remember that although a barre chord your index finger only has to fret the top E string and the A string to produce a 5 string chord.

A good guitar setup is essential to be able to play these chords without your hand cramping up.

[Condition1]

Wow...this thread has been amazing. I started with the Am as suggested, sliding and then working on XX4432...now I am very close to barre the Bm, I can do it but just a little slow still transitioning...

Thanks everyone, really cool you guys sharing your experiences!!!!