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Old 11-24-2014, 01:18 PM
gdbird gdbird is offline
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Default Can't Play Barre Chords!

Picked the guitar back up 6 months or so ago...after about 30 years. Didn't have a lot of trouble finding the chords again and have been playing a little of every genre (not well, but playing) I've spent a considerable amount of time learning some blues riffs and leads (Ami and some Clapton unplugged stuff) .

All of a sudden, I can't play a Barre chord! Muted strings, not able to get chord shapes to form correctly. What the heck?
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Old 11-24-2014, 01:31 PM
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Originally Posted by gdbird View Post
Picked the guitar back up 6 months or so ago...after about 30 years. Didn't have a lot of trouble finding the chords again and have been playing a little of every genre (not well, but playing) I've spent a considerable amount of time learning some blues riffs and leads (Ami and some Clapton unplugged stuff) .

All of a sudden, I can't play a Barre chord! Muted strings, not able to get chord shapes to form correctly. What the heck?
Practice, practice, practice.
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Old 11-24-2014, 01:33 PM
JLT JLT is offline
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Originally Posted by gdbird View Post
All of a sudden, I can't play a Barre chord! Muted strings, not able to get chord shapes to form correctly. What the heck?
Is it the same guitar you had before? Or is it one with possibly a higher action at the nut?

At 66, I'm having more trouble than I used to, even with guitars of a similar action. I think it's a question of either losing some strength in those muscles or possibly some tissue in the index finger itself. I've compensated by lowering the action even more than it was, or simply tuning it down a half and putting a capo on the first fret.
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Old 11-24-2014, 03:48 PM
jseth jseth is offline
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(The following is assuming that your guitar is properly set-up for your style of play)

Resist the temptation to look at your fretboard and fingers when playing; tilting the guitar a little is fine, but if you really "keel it over", it puts a lot stress on your hands and wrists when you start playing barre chords... try angling the headstock of the guitar out in front of you, like 45 degrees or so, +/-... this will help you keep a straighter forearm and a flatter wrist when chording/playing...

Remember that using the lower edge of your index finger helps a lot to get clean barres; you only need to press down when you are sounding the chord, not constantly...

Practice will do the trick; I find that it's easier to learn barre chord shapes when I have the beginning players make the open chord shape with their last 3 fingers on the fretting hand... then it's easy to slide that shape up the neck while adding the first finger to barre.

Keep after it! Good luck... remember, EVERY one of us had trouble with barre chords at one time or the other, and we can all do it... so can you!
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Old 11-24-2014, 04:02 PM
gdbird gdbird is offline
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It just occurred to me that I had been doing a lot of hand/finger exercises, stretches, etc. before I started working on solo parts for some songs...individual notes stuff....and quit doing the stretches/warmups. I'll work that back into my routine before playing and see if it helps....yep...strength and body mass suffer as we grow older...but the babes still love me! (HA!)
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Old 11-24-2014, 05:18 PM
Ciarre Ciarre is offline
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Just like you, after years (only 10 for me) I picked up the guitar again. After six months, still struggling with barre chords, it was frustrating. Continued practice and three more months, I'm doing a lot better, even getting some of those minor chords that were my bane. Seems like less fingers should equal less effort, but....anyway, that's another story.

So stick with it, you'll really be fighting off the babes!
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Old 11-24-2014, 11:00 PM
Cibby Cibby is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JLT View Post
Is it the same guitar you had before? Or is it one with possibly a higher action at the nut?

At 66, I'm having more trouble than I used to, even with guitars of a similar action. I think it's a question of either losing some strength in those muscles or possibly some tissue in the index finger itself. I've compensated by lowering the action even more than it was, or simply tuning it down a half and putting a capo on the first fret.
I'm am close in age to you and my wrist and fingers are arthritic . What was easy years ago now is hard or impossible. I use a capo more or change the chord structure to eliminate barre chords.
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Old 11-25-2014, 02:06 PM
amyFB amyFB is offline
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I find it helpful to bring my middle finger to the aid of the barre-ing first finger;
laying it atop the first finger allows the effort to be shared by two fingers and is only a problem when i need that middle finger to hit some other notes while the barre is in play.

and practice.

If I don't play the barre chord songs regularly, it's an achy breaky bunch of hours or days to get the strength built up again.

good luck!
yours in tune,
amyfb
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Old 11-25-2014, 02:48 PM
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I went to mediums from lights and now I'm having problems too. Just keep working at them. I think barre chords have to have a practice session all to themselves, a couple of times a week, but I never get around to doing them. I'd rather practice songs as its more fun.
Maybe doing a few exercises with them at the end of a practice is more practical.
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Old 11-25-2014, 03:00 PM
gdbird gdbird is offline
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I tried jseth's suggestion regarding angling the headstock away from my body. That helped a lot. Now back to finger exercises and practice, practice.
Thanks all for your assistance - David
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Old 11-25-2014, 07:15 PM
Pitar Pitar is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by gdbird View Post
Picked the guitar back up 6 months or so ago...after about 30 years. Didn't have a lot of trouble finding the chords again and have been playing a little of every genre (not well, but playing) I've spent a considerable amount of time learning some blues riffs and leads (Ami and some Clapton unplugged stuff) .

All of a sudden, I can't play a Barre chord! Muted strings, not able to get chord shapes to form correctly. What the heck?
Same story here. I came back after a 30 year sabbatical and had to knock the rust off. But, including barre chords, it all came back inside a month. My first hurdle was getting a guitar. I had no idea there was such a great selection. When I put it down there were only a few makers. When I came back the choices were crazy.
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Old 11-26-2014, 05:05 AM
Fruitloop Fruitloop is offline
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Make sure the guitar is setup properly too, maybe take it to a tech? Bad setup can make any guitar nigh on unplayable.
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Old 11-26-2014, 10:30 AM
Laird_Williams Laird_Williams is offline
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...and keep the index finger straight! The only knuckle that should be bent is the one that joins the finger to the rest of the hand. All of the other index finger knuckles should be straight for full barre chords.

If the "meat" of your finger is making it difficult to apply enough pressure to the string (e.g. the meat is absorbing a lot of the pressure and is making you have to press harder than you would otherwise need to) try this: Put the meat down so the edge of your index finger is just touching the fret - then ROLL the finger just slightly off the fret. This will "push" some of that "meat" out of the way, and put you just behind the fret, both of which minimize the pressure that you need to apply.
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Old 11-26-2014, 11:50 AM
MuddyDitch MuddyDitch is offline
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Yeah, screw barre chords. The joints on my index finger can't take it.
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Old 11-26-2014, 11:57 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by gdbird View Post
Picked the guitar back up 6 months or so ago...after about 30 years. Didn't have a lot of trouble finding the chords again and have been playing a little of every genre (not well, but playing) I've spent a considerable amount of time learning some blues riffs and leads (Ami and some Clapton unplugged stuff) .

All of a sudden, I can't play a Barre chord! Muted strings, not able to get chord shapes to form correctly. What the heck?
It is a topic that has been covered in extreme minutia in numerous prior threads - areas of discussion such as hand and arm position, flat versus curved index finger with various chord shapes, fret distance, roll back, doubling up, temporal fluctuations in pressure requirements, guitar setup and how to check, etc.
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