barre chords

If you want a simple, basic, straight-forward answer, it goes: F, F#, G, G#, A, A#, B, C, C#, D, D#, E, F
And if you start on the A string, it's the same thing but starting on the A note: A, A#, B, C, C#, D, D#, E, F, F#, G, G#, A
Same thing for the other strings!

Basically, it follows the major scale pattern of W W W H W W H but you just add the sharps or flats in between. That's probably NOT a good way to explain it but that's how I see it tonight. :P

Barre chords with the root on the 6th string (E-shape)
e|---0----1----2----3----4----5----6----7----8----9----10----11----12---
B|---0----1----2----3----4----5----6----7----8----9----10----11----12---
G|---1----2----3----4----5----6----7----8----9----10---11----12----13---
D|---2----3----4----5----6----7----8----9----10---11---12----13----14---
A|---2----3----4----5----6----7----8----9----10---11---12----13----14---
E|---0----1----2----3----4----5----6----7----8----9----10----11----12---
E F F# G G# A Bb B C C# D D# E

Barre chords with the root on the 5th string (A-shape)
e|---x----x----x----x----x----x----x----x----x----x----x----x----x----
B|---2----3----4----5----6----7----8----9----10---11---12---13---14---
G|---2----3----4----5----6----7----8----9----10---11---12---13---14---
D|---2----3----4----5----6----7----8----9----10---11---12---13---14---
A|---0----1----2----3----4----5----6----7----8----9----10---11---12---
E|---x----x----x----x----x----x----x----x----x----x----x----x----x----
A Bb B C C# D D# E F F# G G# A

before you leap ino barres....i found it really helpful to get used to playing open E leaving the index finger free...second finger fret 1 G string,ring finger fret 2 D string,pinky fret 2 A string.....get the picture? same with Am

start with easy songs you can play with these open chord finger postions....

then be prepared for a tough workout when you add your index finger as the barre...its like the triathlon of guitar so be ready for some cramping and duff notes...it will take months to master if your acoustic...i'm just beginning to have the finger strength after three weeks at it

wow, thanks a lot guys! thats exactly what I was looking for :D

I was having a fair amount of difficulty with barre chords on my acoustic, but these days I always play my electric and they're a breeze :D

Guys, a related question. If I play an A-shaped barre by muting the high and low E string (as Hbriem has indicated), I am really playing a different voicing of that particular chord, yeah? Since the notes are stacked up as Root, 5th and 3rd rather than Root, 3rd and 5th?

Thx

Guys, a related question. If I play an A-shaped barre by muting the high and low E string (as Hbriem has indicated), I am really playing a different voicing of that particular chord, yeah? Since the notes are stacked up as Root, 5th and 3rd rather than Root, 3rd and 5th?

Thx

Yes - it's a different arrangement. Sorry if I've misunderstood, but when you say, "rather than Root, 3rd and 5th", it sounds like you feel that Root, 3rd & 5th is how the notes are normally arranged.

That's not the case. The only stipulation for playing a root position chord is that the root is the lowest note. What happens above that is open to every possible arrangement. They're all equally valid and common. Root, 3rd & 5th is just how we say the notes in a logical order - but when it comes to playing them in whatever shape, we find the notes rearranged, doubled up and even omitted sometimes.

Fretsource,

Is the chord arrangements of Root, 3rd, 5th interchangeable with Root, 5th, 3rd?

Also, is there is big difference in the sound of the two voicings?
Sorry, my ear is very much under-developed. I am sure I wouldn't hear any difference if i tried. :)

Cheers,
Vic

before you leap ino barres....i found it really helpful to get used to playing open E leaving the index finger free...second finger fret 1 G string,ring finger fret 2 D string,pinky fret 2 A string.....get the picture? same with Am

start with easy songs you can play with these open chord finger postions....

then be prepared for a tough workout when you add your index finger as the barre...its like the triathlon of guitar so be ready for some cramping and duff notes...it will take months to master if your acoustic...i'm just beginning to have the finger strength after three weeks at it

Excellent advice. 8)

Teach yourself books always seem to neglect to mention how long some things take to master. Sometimes you might be able to comfortably get through a couple of pages at one practice session. But at other times (and barre chords is a good example) there might be literally months of work between a couple of innocent looking sentences that just spell out where your fingers go. :shock:

When I first tried barres, it was not only the first time that I'd tried to get the index finger to press firmly and accurately accross the neck (which can be a huge goal in itself) but it was the first time I'd given my rather feeble pinkie any sort of real work to do. :wink:

So giving the shapes a bit of a workout first using the pinkie sounds like good plan.

Maybe there's a joke waiting to be written there?....

"... An index finger and a pinkie walked into a barre one day and...." :roll:

Cheers,

Chris

Fretsource,

Is the chord arrangements of Root, 3rd, 5th interchangeable with Root, 5th, 3rd?

Also, is there is big difference in the sound of the two voicings?
Sorry, my ear is very much under-developed. I am sure I wouldn't hear any difference if i tried. :)

Cheers,
Vic

Vic, It depends on the situation.

The only difference between R, 3, 5 and R, 5, 3 is that 3 has been raised an octave and is now higher than 5. Octaves make no difference to the harmony. If a strum-along type song calls for a C major, you could choose to play it as X32010 or as X35553 (or even something else). Both of them will do exactly the same job because they're both root position C major chords. In fact many guitarists might even play it 332010 which, technically, isn't even a root position chord - yet it sounds fine. So in that situation, different voicings are interchangeable and even different inversions (root or non root in the bass) often don't make much difference.

But if you compare the two arrangements, you'll hear that they do have a different sound. The first shape (X32010) contains R 3 5 R 3 and the second shape (X35553) contains R 5 R 3 5. The difference is purely a pitch difference as a result of some of the notes being shifted (or doubled) up an octave. The harmonic effect is unchanged

Some songs exploit these differences and you can hear that the guitarist is using a particular shape to achieve a distinctive effect. The Beatles 'Eight days a week', for example, has a distinctive intro using the chords D, E, G & D all based on the basic D shape (XX0232). Playing any other shapes just won't sound like how they do it - much to the disappointment of your listeners. So in that situation - they're not interchangeable.

Another situation where the actual arrangement of chord notes is important and NOT interchangeable is in what's called 'part movement'. In that case, individual melodies are sung or played at the same time and chords occur as a by-product of that. Imagine a barbershop quartet singing four different melodies at the same time. At any point in time, those four voices combine to produce a chord. This sounds good because the music is arranged so that the singers are constantly taking different chord notes among the four parts and weaving a strong harmonic texture as the music progresses. If the bass and tenor singers, for example are both singing the root in one chord, they mustn't both sing the root in the next chord or it will sound weak at that point. The guitar equivalent of playing with this kind of part movement is often heard in styles such as classical and others.

Just to muddy the waters still further.....I was actually shown to play A-shape barre chords like this.....

E A D G B E
5 5 7 7 7 5

....that's a D chord played at the 5th fret with an A-shaped barre.....

if you look at the notes in a D chord, you've got D (root) F# (3rd) and A (5th)....the above chord fits those criteria, but technically, since the lowest note is an A, I suppose it would be tabbed as D/A.....and I suppose it's an inversion?

But it sounds good sometimes, especially in a 12-bar blues - you get a sort of droning effect.....also, it's handy for country music, where you often find guitarists alternating between the root and fifth for a bass note...."Looking Out My Back Door" by CCR springs to mind, you might try looking it up in "Easy Songs".....

:D :D :D

Vic

I found that I was able to learn 'E' shaped barre chords relatively quickly. I started down around the 6th or 7th fret and worked my way up to the 1st fret. I can change into the barre chord from other chords pretty easily now.
Now the big fun I am having now is 'A' shaped barre chords.

I am experimenting between fingering the D, G, and B string or doing a mini barre across them with my pinky. Right now I am having better success with the second option. Could have something to do with my fat fingers. :D

Vic, It depends on the situation.

The only difference between R, 3, 5 and R, 5, 3 is that 3 has been raised an octave and is now higher than 5. Octaves make no difference to the harmony. If a strum-along type song calls for a C major, you could choose to play it as X32010 or as X35553 (or even something else). Both of them will do exactly the same job because they're both root position C major chords. In fact many guitarists might even play it 332010 which, technically, isn't even a root position chord - yet it sounds fine. So in that situation, different voicings are interchangeable and even different inversions (root or non root in the bass) often don't make much difference.

But if you compare the two arrangements, you'll hear that do have a different sound. The first shape (X32010) contains R 3 5 R 3 and the second shape (X35553) contains R 5 R 3 5. The difference is purely a pitch difference as a result of some of the notes being shifted (or doubled) up an octave. The harmonic effect is unchanged

Some songs exploit these differences and you can hear that the guitarist is using a particular shape to achieve a distinctive effect. The Beatles 'Eight days a week', for example, has a distinctive intro using the chords D, E, G & D all based on the basic D shape (XX0232). Playing any other shapes just won't sound like how they do it - much to the disappointment of your listeners. So in that situation - they're not interchangeable.

Another situation where the actual arrangement of chord notes is important and NOT interchangeable is in what's called 'part movement'. In that case, individual melodies are sung or played at the same time and chords occur as a by-product of that. Imagine a barbershop quartet singing four different melodies at the same time. At any point in time, those four voices combine to produce a chord. This sounds good because the music is arranged so that the singers are constantly taking different chord notes among the four parts and weaving a strong harmonic texture as the music progresses. If the bass and tenor singers, for example are both singing the root in one chord, they mustn't both sing the root in the next chord or it will sound weak at that point. The guitar equivalent of playing with this kind of part movement is often heard in styles such as classical and others.

I can see clearly now the rain is gone. It's gonna be a bright, bright, sun shiny day. :)
Thanks Fretsource.