Barre Chords

It could be any one of a number of things.....

Incorrect posture. Try and sit so's the headstock's raised at an angle and your thumb's in the middle of the neck. Try not to tense the fretting hand too much, keep it fairly relaxed with just enough tension to hold the strings down. If the strings aren't ringing out clearly, try tilting your index - barring - finger slightly towards the headstock.

It could also be that the action's high on your guitar and the truss rod - or perhaps the bridge - needs adjusting. You don't say what kind of guitar you've got, so not much information to go on.....

:D :D :D

Vic

Fender CD-60 Acoustic. Thanks for the tips.

Acoustics are always a bit harder to barre than electrics. The action is always a bit heavier.

Give it some time, I wasn't able to do an E shape barre properly on my acoustic until almost a year after I could do it on my electric.

Barre chords do take time. It took me months before I could play simple C Major chord and don't even ask about the barres.

My index finger used to be very sore while learning the barres (both side ways and top).

Anyways, the point is that it takes time to develop finger strength and barre chords can be only learnt through daily practice. Just give it some time. You will be able to play 'em in less than 6 months.

You're 14 and still developing, so you won't have all your adult strength yet. Don't panic it'll come.

Having said that, a properly set-up guitar should not stop you playing barres clearly. As has already been said, it may be your guitar that needs adjusting, to lower the action and make fretting notes easier.

You probably don't have any callouses on your finger tips, yet. This makes fretting the actual chord shape more difficult, but they will grow, if you keep playing, so don't worry.

You may have a bad playing posture. The guitar should be held parallel to your chest, with the neck at a comfortable height and, if anything, on a slightly raised angle. The top of the guitar body should be perpendicular - many beginners hold the guitar with the top twisted towards them, so that they can see the strings. This rotates the neck away from the fretting fingers, making you turn your wrist more and causing you to lose finger strength. If you need to see what you're doing (most people do), practice in front of a mirror.

I don't know how tall you are, but your guitar is a dreadnought, with a large body, so that may also be hampering your progress a little.

Hope this helps

James,
Same problem here and I'm fort... older! Just keep doing it! Don't avoid them (or songs that have Barre Chords in them) , I think that's a mistake I made. Try to stick to the middle of the neck, A, G, etc. My "F" chord still is iffy (no CAPO) but I just play it anyway!

Bob Jessie

Not sure you should actually worry about being able to bar all 6 strings with good sound. Or even 5. Those aren't often-used chords.

Fingers aren't straight-edge so even if you try rolling the finger toward the tuners a little still not all strings will sound clear.

In reality, in a barre you are using other fingers to hold some of the strings down.
So work on getting only the remaining (barred) strings to sound while you form specific chords.

And don't be surprised if your fingers/hand hurt after not very long. This kind of finger usage isn't normal so your musculature has to build up with time and practice. it's like weightlifting on a micro level.

I'm struggling to be able to hold barre long enough to play Gilligan's Island as my challenge-to-the-gang-to-sing-too campfire song. (The version I have is nearly all barre.)

And don't be surprised if your fingers/hand hurt after not very long. This kind of finger usage isn't normal so your musculature has to build up with time and practice. it's like weightlifting on a micro level.

I found out when first learning barre chords that the same muscle that gets sore from doing them is the same main muscle that is needed for using chopsticks. It made it difficult to eat certain things after practice. Maybe eating with chopsticks more regularly would be good for building up the hand muscles for barre chords?

Hey, I can do bar chords just fine on all my guitars..... :mrgreen:

but I still screw up every now and then when I get too blase about it. :oops: :lol:

In other words....don't worry, keep practising, and with time it'll come.

I found out when first learning barre chords that the same muscle that gets sore from doing them is the same main muscle that is needed for using chopsticks. It made it difficult to eat certain things after practice. Maybe eating with chopsticks more regularly would be good for building up the hand muscles for barre chords?

Interesting, which fingers do you for chopsticks? I thought it was Thumb and middle finger?

BJ

I found out when first learning barre chords that the same muscle that gets sore from doing them is the same main muscle that is needed for using chopsticks. It made it difficult to eat certain things after practice. Maybe eating with chopsticks more regularly would be good for building up the hand muscles for barre chords?

Interesting, which fingers do you for chopsticks? I thought it was Thumb and middle finger?

BJ

Thumb and crook of the thumb one one and then index and middle finger on the other. I should have said that it was the muscle along the pinky edge of the hand that I was talking about - that fleshy part between the pinky and the wrist.

Hahaha, now that I think about it more clearly too, I'm not sure that this would apply to most people anyways. I'm a lefty who uses his chopsticks in the left hand but who plays guitar as a righty. So my chopstick hand is the same as my fretting hand. That's not going to be the case for most people.

Thanks to everyone for all the help! :D

Check out Justin Sandercoe's lessons. He talks about positioning the index finger properly and it worked for me.

part1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpMhueVEz2g
part2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNe4oHE8WLU
part3 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioU_ItTzm90
part4 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2Xhl7QkXEA