A-Barre chord

Yah, it's awkward but you'll get it. Don't force it and it'll happen. But that one was easy compared to that barred F!

I had/have a lot of trouble with that chord too. I figured out an exercise that helps with the flexibility in my ring finger. I use one of those gripmaster finger strengthener devices and squeeze it between my thum and ring finger. The ring finger goes on the side with the individual springs covering three or so pads. If I knew how to post pictures I would show you; however, I think if you get a gripmaster it will make sense. You can buy them at guitar stores or most any sporting goods store.

I use the ring finger for my A-form barre. It's certainly a challenge. Difficult to stretch the ring and still maintain the index finger fretting where it's supposed to, especially on the A string. The other challenge is getting the high E to sound clear, that is, not touching it with the ring finger. What I try to do is push the strings up slightly with the ring finger tand that usually makes the E sound OK.

I still need to work on this, especially at the top of the fretboard where I have to strectch more. I haven't had to use this form much with the church group- I think they play in keys that avoid B major intentionally- so I still need some practice.

One of the songs this week does use the B major so now I am forced to practice it. I can make it sound OK by itself but changing to itin songs is still a challenge.

The barred A is one I always try and actually use all 3 fingers to play, rather than the half barre shortcut with the ring finger. I find that if I do that, then it's an easier transition to and from other chords, especially variations on the same shape, such as dropping the ocave to make the major 7th.

The other thing is that I don't have to worry with the muting of the high E string. Bonus!

I never got told how to do various chords, and came to use my pinky to fret the 'mini-barre' on the 2nd 3rd and 4th strings. I found that the natural curvature of the pinky when pressing it down on the strings made it much easier to avoid muting the 1st string.

I used to use the index finger to fret all three strings when I started out. When I got to barre chords using the A-shape, I found that using the 2nd, 3rd and 4th fingers was sooooo much easier.

Best,

A :-)

I'm a freak.

I am not recommending this, but this is how I hold a barre-A type chord.

I use the index for the barre, ring finger on the 4th string, and my pinky in a little mini-barre to hold the 3rd and 2nd strings. I don't know when I started doing this, but I can get all 6 strings to ring properly and I find I can move my hand much quicker up and down the neck than any other method.

But I do use the ring finger only to fret the 2-4 strings at times, especially if I want to use my pinky for the sus4 note or 7th note.

And I'll use my middle, ring, and pinky sometimes. Usually only for the Bb chord at the 1st fret though.

But the first method I described is my favorite.

Good to hear what I am hearing hear... Too each his own :!:

Which simply means whatever works best for you. I kind of switch between a full index/3 string ring and a full index/2 string ring (3 & 4th) and 1 string pinkie (2nd). The 1 string pinkie really helped me get to just the 2 finger barre since the pinkie kind of gives the ring a place to rest and allows the ring to be at more of an angle until you can stretch good. Besides, having multiple ways to fret a chord helps depending on where you are coming from and where you are going. Plus like Wes said it is good to get to just using 2 fingers so your pinkie is available for extended chords.