Are barre chords REALLY nessacery?

are they required? no

are they necessary? yes

but could you get away with it? yes you could

If you mean the standard major/minor/dominant 7th barre chords that every rock and roll idol bangs out, yeah... there are lots of great guitarists who don't use those at all. You can work out different voicings, play with all sorts of 'inside' chords, incorporate open strings... lots of stuff.

If you mean 'can you get away without being able to cleanly finger a barre', the answer is no. Lots of those great chord voicings will fit together best by using a barred finger to get to the next chord - and those great guitarists who don't use standard barre chords can all do a barre using any finger.

i mean...do u kno of any really good guitarists that dont use barre chords? could u get away with it?
xx

Now, if what you mean is "I'm just startin' out and these barre chord things are a real pain, do I really, really need to worry about them?"

My answer would be - not for a while, and even then, don't worry that much about them. In my mind (and this is just my opinion), It's more important for you to get a feel for open chords with your left hand - being able to land accurately and change quickly, and to get your right hand working at strumming or picking the apporpriate strings for the chord. Start working barre chords into your practice routine a little once you feel comfortable with as many open chords as you can handle. When you first start with the barre chords, I wouldn't worry about the buzzing and dead strings your going to get. Work on positioning your barring finger and getting a feel for the chord shape. It's going to take a while to build up a little callous along your index finger and for you to land accurately and cleanly. One day you'll find, when you're not thinking about it, that the chord sounded clean and effortless. It may take a while, but don't push it, you'll just get frustrated.

yeah, they are important....helps when you want to mute or palm mute certain chords....really, just learn them, helps to improve hand strength too.

Its strange, I found out that barre chords sound great on the electric but not so good on the acoustic; and open chords sound great on the acoustic, but not as good on the electric.

What a paradox.. :idea:

ok..maybe not.. :lol:

I like barre chords on the acoustic. And if the distortion's very limited, open chords on the electric. Ah, a further paradox! :wink:

I learned full 6 string barre chords just like everyone else, but I rarely use them. I am a "cheater". I always hold and play the least amount of strings possible. What I mean it this. Take a full "barre E" type chord;

e--5-----
b--5-----
g--6-----
d--7-----
a--7-----
e--5-----

OK, that is your standard A chord at the 5th fret.

What I hold is this;

e---Xi-------
b---Xi-------
g---6m-----
d---7p------
a---7r-------
e---5i-------

I am not really holding a barre with my index finger. I am holding the 6th string with the tip of my index finger. I pretty much relax the rest of my index finger, allowing the natural curve or arch to lightly touch and mute the 1st and 2nd strings. I hold the other strings as shown. This is more of a "floater" chord. Very easy to move up and down the neck.

The truth is, most of the time you do not play all 6 strings on guitar. Especially on electric. So why not make fretting as easy as possible?

On a "barre A" type chord I really cheat. I hold those like this;

e--Xp-----
b--7p-----
g--7p-----
d--7r-----
a--5i-----
e--5i-----

Here I hold a little mini-barre over the 6th and 5th strings, and hold the other strings as shown. I let the natural curve of my pinky mute the 1st string. This is also a "floater" chord.

So, I am not trying to give you bad advice. I can play full barre chords in the traditional method and do so at times. But when I don't need to sound a string, I don't worry about fretting it.

After you have been playing guitar a long time, you learn all different ways to cheat and make your playing physically easier. There is nothing wrong with this. It is smart.

If you are getting the great sounds you want, then you are doing it right.

Wes that was a really good post, its really sound advice.

My instructor is primarilly a jazz player and one thing he says all the time is, "Sometimes less is more." This applies to voicings, solos with less notes, simple changes, and almost anything else.

It doesnt mean you shouldnt voice all the notes, or shouldnt jam all the notes possible into your solos, but a simple touch is an effective one. And usually a groove sounds alot better without those high strings twanging away.

Just a thought.

Kido

The one thing I found out after I got the barre chords down was that most of the music I wanted to learn never used full barre chords it's always partial barre's like the way Wes described. I try and cheat whenever possible.

I have yet to come across a song in my genre (oldtime mountain) that requires a barr chord. There probably is one I just haven't seen it. So I'd say it depends on the type of music your interested in. I'm still trying to learn it though, just so I can say I can.

New to the boards here, but I have been playing off and on since about age 8 ( 46 now ), been practicing in ernest again for 2 years now, since "the divorce". Still a newb, because i learn something new every day. ;)

I used to avoid Barre chords like the plague, but a friend told me years ago to tune one of my guitars to open E tuning ( E B E G# B E ) to try to strengthen the index finger. Once I got the positioning of my thumb and index finger right to where all 6 strings played, then switching to my other guitar and trying full barre chords was much easier.

Just a tip that helped me along the way

-Wayne

I dont see the point of Barre chords, when I try to play them I notice that the 2nd, 3rd and 4th fingers by default change the sound of what the first finger is holding down, so the only strings that the first finger has any effect on is the 1st and 6th if you now what Im talking aobut.

I dont see the point of Barre chords, when I try to play them I notice that the 2nd, 3rd and 4th fingers by default change the sound of what the first finger is holding down, so the only strings that the first finger has any effect on is the 1st and 6th if you now what Im talking aobut.
And if you are trying to make a minor, a 7th or minor 7th chord the bar makes a big difference. =)

If you are making an major chord such as F, G or A, the index finger is holding down the 1st, 2nd and 6th.

Don't get me wrong, I only use a full barre if it is needed, most times I only use the voicing needed for the song though, so that my hands don't tire as fast.

Ever saw a song that had Eb in it? You can play part of it open but it sounds aweful. Play it barred at the 6th fret and you can now play it. I may end up making a post (or possibly a short article if mgmt permits) on open chords and barre chords. If you play a barred D at the 5th fret it has EXACTLY the same note frequency as the open D. It doesn't add any lower or higher D, F# or A notes. Still, there is a slight difference in sound.

The open D rings out better. Can't explain it. But once I learned that I wondered why anyone would even bother with the barred D. Because you can lift of and do percussive sutff. Because you may be coming from a barred E and the barred D is right there.

Don't worry about the barres now. Play what you can and incorporate them later in your career if you decide to work on them. I must add that playing is much more enjoyable once you can move up the neck past the 4th fret. It's a whole new playground.