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Need tips on barring

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(@wes-inman)
Illustrious Member
Joined: 20 years ago
Posts: 5582
 

Dogbite

No really, I agree with you. I hold my thumb in many positions when I play. When playing a "barre E type" chord my thumb is pretty much like that photo I posted. But if I barre a C or G shape then I too point my thumb slightly toward the headstock. There is no perfect thumb position that works for every chord. And even playing single notes I use various thumb positions. When bending, I hang my thumb over the top of the neck. But playing scales, especially if I have to do long stretches, then I will actually place my thumb almost on the underside (not quite) of the neck. It will be on the bottom curve if you know what I mean.

The important thing is to be comfortable and have plenty of reach. Hands come in many shapes and sizes, there is no "one size fits all" :D

Matteo

Glad to hear barres are getting easier. Some day you will wonder why they gave you any problem at all. That is pretty much how it happens for most players. It is more correct position than pressure. Be aware of tension in your hand. It really does not take much force at all to play a good barre once you get used to them. But don't clamp down with a death grip, that will really slow you down and can also lead to injury to your hand.

Just stay at it and soon they will be easy.

If you know something better than Rock and Roll, I'd like to hear it - Jerry Lee Lewis


   
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(@matteo)
Honorable Member
Joined: 19 years ago
Posts: 557
 

thanks wes for the encouragement you're so nice! And yes when I play bar chords my thumb is well behind the neck! I guess it all depends on the kind of guitar you're playing: i.e. I noticed that if I play classic guitar it is a lot better if I play in the classic position (guitar on the left leg), also with electric guitar I obtain the best results playing it in standing position. Yo're also so right about the tension: if I relax it gets a lot better

Last thing: i guess that with classic guitar it is better to play bar chords only when needed (i.e. playing F, B, C#, F# etc.) because to me classic guitar is more apt to play with open strings, while bar chords are perfect for the electric guitar

Matteo


   
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(@wes-inman)
Illustrious Member
Joined: 20 years ago
Posts: 5582
 

Matteo,

Truth is, even when holding a full barre chord over all six strings, very rarely do you actually strum all six strings. :D

It's true. Usually when I play barre chords I am really only strumming three or four strings at most. This is especially true when playing electric guitar in Rock style. Most Rock barre chords are very simple "5" chords where you play the Root, 5th, and maybe include the octave. If you want the Major or Minor flavor of the chord to come through you include the 3rd, or flatted 3rd.

For instance, playing a rhythm figure using A Major and D Major barre chords at the 5th fret, this is what I am fretting:


A(barre E type) D(barre A type)
e---5i-------------5i--
b---5i-------------7r--
g---6m-------------7r--
d---7p-------------7r--
a---7r-------------5i--
e---5i-----------------

But what I am actually playing is much less:

Rhythm figure with A and D chords

A D A
e------------------------
b----------7-------------
g-5h6---6--7--5h6---6----
d-7-----7--7--7-----7----
a-7-----7-----7-----7----
e-5-----5-----5-----5----
1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &

So you see, although I am fretting all six strings with the A Major chord, and five strings with the D Major chord, I am not strumming all the strings whatsoever. And you do not have to play every note simply because you are fretting them. You go by your ear and what sounds good. The chord forms give you many available notes, but you can play as many or as few as you like.

Using clean tones, you can often play all five or six strings and it will sound good. But using distortion you often want to use less strings as it will sound tighter and less muddy. Go by your ear.

But with this example you can see I really don't have to worry about the high E string at all. And this is common with barre chords. You just need to worry about the strings you are actually playing. Yes, you should learn how to play all strings cleanly, but in practice you will rarely play all strings.

Hope that made sense.

Wes

If you know something better than Rock and Roll, I'd like to hear it - Jerry Lee Lewis


   
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(@matteo)
Honorable Member
Joined: 19 years ago
Posts: 557
 

hi wes

thanks for your tips which are, as always, really helpful. As i said in a previuos post, bar chords are not a problem with electric guitar, but when I play the classic one. Actually my main goal is to be able to play clean barre chords on classic guitar, making all six or five string sound and i'm happy to say that in a few weeks I've almost reached it.Yesterday i play barre chords progressions only for say 15 minutes and they all sound good, most of the times I also managed to play clean 5th string root bar chords (like B or Bb), I hope that in a couple of more weeks I'll no more have trouble with bar chord. I've noticed that to play A-string bar chords it helps to keep the medium finger distant form the index, this way both the index and the ring are able to press the strings down. Also the ring must be quite bended because otherwise it could mute the 1str string.

Cheers and thanks to everyone

Matteo


   
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(@irght19kc)
Eminent Member
Joined: 18 years ago
Posts: 32
 

Only one word... practice ! Again.. and again !

Visit my BLOG!(in french...)


   
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(@matteo)
Honorable Member
Joined: 19 years ago
Posts: 557
 

a word of hope for everyone who's struggling with bar chords: in a few weeks of dedicated exercises (which means palying with a metronome, exploring to find teh right thumb and index position etc.), I've managed to learn to play clean bar chords (both E and A shape). Sometimes I still have a bit of difficulties with Bb at the 1st fret or F#m, but nine times out of ten i play them clean on my classic guitar, making all strings ring! Thats' unbelievable if i thought that before I've been struggling with bar chords for almost 3 years and it is a proof that a few hours of dedicated and correct pratice can make a lot!

cheers and thanks to anyone for the kind tips

Matteo


   
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(@wes-inman)
Illustrious Member
Joined: 20 years ago
Posts: 5582
 

Matteo

Glad to hear you are finally getting those difficult barre chords down. Trust me, the Bb at the 1st fret is difficult for everyone. So your experience is not unusual at all.

Keep up the great work.

Wes

If you know something better than Rock and Roll, I'd like to hear it - Jerry Lee Lewis


   
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 Ande
(@ande)
Prominent Member
Joined: 16 years ago
Posts: 652
 

Trust me, the Bb at the 1st fret is difficult for everyone.

NOW they tell me. That was the first position I every tried to play an A shaped bar chord in. Can't remember why...

:oops:


   
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