Bmaj7

You can barre in the 2th fret with your index finger (or just press the 5th string) and use the other fingers in a D7-shape: x1324x (1-index, 2-middle, etc.).

My mistake; what you described is what I have been trying to do, Nuno. I cant get all four fingers at enough of an angle to avoid muting strings . . .

I think it is the easier way, it is the fingering proposed in several sites, for example How to play guitar:

Try something like this:

Try to put the thumb behind the neck, thus you can bend your wrist for leaving the fingers almost perpendicular to the fretboard.

I hope it helps. Perhaps another member uses another fingering.

Nuno

PS. Sorry for the bad quality, I taken the picture with the cellular. :?

I think it is the easier way, it is the fingering proposed in several sites, for example How to play guitar:

Is that a barre? If I get my index finger in position, I cant move the rest of my fingers enough to fret anything.
Try something like this:

Try to put the thumb behind the neck, thus you can bend your wrist for leaving the fingers almost perpendicular to the fretboard.

I hope it helps. Perhaps another member uses another fingering.

:?

I must be doing that wrong, thats too painful. I've fractured that wrist before (both, actually), maybe thats why. Time for some ice, maybe I'll do better tomorrow. Thanks for the tip 8)

Is that a barre? If I get my index finger in position, I cant move the rest of my fingers enough to fret anything.
Yes, it is. F# is part of the chord so you can play it in the 6th and 1st strings. Usually the first note played is the root, B in this case, for that the 6th string has a "X", to mute it.

Try to practice. Some chords are practically impossible the first time and they need to be practiced. Perhaps the hand and thumb positions need to be modified. Perhaps you need some exercises for stretching, if you barre in the 2th fret you have to put your fingers in the 4th or even 5th fret easily. The chord is practically a Bm.

Good luck! :)

Just for future reference, here's a great resource for alternate chord voicings:

Howard's Big List of Guitar Chords.

I could see where that would be tricky. Keep practicing. You'll get it!!!

Yes, it is. F# is part of the chord so you can play it in the 6th and 1st strings.

Im sorry, I dont understand what you mean here?
Try to practice. Some chords are practically impossible the first time and they need to be practiced. Perhaps the hand and thumb positions need to be modified. Perhaps you need some exercises for stretching, if you barre in the 2th fret you have to put your fingers in the 4th or even 5th fret easily. The chord is practically a Bm.

Im not even attempting to learn barre chords just yet, I only attempted this chord because I saw it listed somewhere as part of some common chord progressions. As an adult beginner with short, stubby fingers, my progress in mastering things is a bit slower then some other folks 8)

One thing I did figure out is, I need to get some wrist straps real soon. I just got back to work after 2 months of treatment for tendonitis in my right shoulder, and it dawned on me that the pain in my left wrist is the return of the tendonitis I had in my lower arms many years ago. So, I guess I better deal with that before i go any further.

Just for future reference, here's a great resource for alternate chord voicings:

Howard's Big List of Guitar Chords.

Very handy! Thanks for the link :D

Yes, it is. F# is part of the chord so you can play it in the 6th and 1st strings.

Im sorry, I dont understand what you mean here?
The Bmaj7 chord is composed by B, D#, F# and A#. You are using the four internal strings (2th to 5th) to play those notes (see the above diagram).

If you play the chord with a barre in the 2th fret, there will be a F# in the 1st and 6th strings, too. F# is in the Bmaj7 so you can play them and the chord will sound to a Bmaj7, you simply are adding new F# "voices" because it is already present in the 4th string.

Now, usually the root note in a chord is played in the bassier string, in this case the 5th string. For example, when you play a A chord you play from the 5th string, when you play a D you do it from the 4th, and so on.

In this case -like a A chord- you should play the chord from the 5th string although you could play the 6th if you put the barre like in the diagram -you can play an open 6th sting in a A chord-.

Be careful with the injuries, if you feel some pain, leave that chord or try to play it in another way. I'm a runner and it is always a bad idea try to speed up the injuries treatment.

You can barre in the 2th fret with your index finger (or just press the 5th string) and use the other fingers in a D7-shape: x1324x (1-index, 2-middle, etc.).

Nuno, is this a movable shape? (IE, Cmaj7 at the third fret?)

Bob Jessie

Yes, it is a movable shape.

Cmaj7 is C, E, G and B. Those notes are (string-fret): 6th-3 (G), 5th-3 (C), 4th-5 (G), 3rd-4 (B), 2nd-5 (E) and 1st-3 (G). (Usually we wrote the chord as x35453.)

In fact, the Amaj7 is a more usual chord and it is usually fingered as a D7 chord, one string up (or down, as you prefer). You would barring over the "nut".

Well the good news is, I got a wrist support and can hold the neck without pain :)

I still cant do that barre thing; either I can exert enough pressure with index finger , OR I can exert enough pressure with the other three fingers . . . I cant do both.

And for now Im going to force myself to stop trying! My last 2-3 practices have ended with me obsessively trying to do that one chord and not working on other things. So, until I get to a point that I need to learn barre chords- - - Bmaj7 does not exist :?

Hey TheRedd, there's no shame in transposing a song down a couple of semitones if you can't play barres (or even if you can, but wish to avoid them!) - I don't know what the other chords in the song are, but if you transpose everything down two semitones - ie, Bmaj7 becomes Amaj7, and for example D will become C, G will become F, Em would be Dm.....then if you put a capo on the second fret and play Amaj7, C, F and Dm chords, you'll be back in the original key.

:D :D :D

Vic