Just get that thumb behind the neck and squeeze hard. (Pretend it's your mother-in-law's neck)
Or if that doesn't work you can always use the index to fret the first two strings (instead of trying to bar all six) and just strum the first 4 or 5 strings.
I believe "they" call that cheating but I'm not going to suggest you cheat.
Izzy Mama! You rock!
.... er, :roll: shouldn't you be fretting about burping the baby or something?
... my first guitar book told me I was supposed to switch cleanly between C, F and G before advancing to lesson#2. Thankfully I have never had to pull that book out again!
For those of us short on finger length - and patience! - there is the mini-barre :lol: :lol: :lol: - or should that be minibar :lol:
Anyway, Dm7 x00211 is a good start, using the 1st suggestion of pushing with the thumb against the neck. Just work on pinching those 2 strings. Once you got that, try "semi-easy" F x03211 and then if you have any luck with this at all, work your way up and down the neck playing (for example) barre G , A, B, C, D without changing your actual finger postion. Because further up the neck, the chords are easier to fret - basic F is the son-of-the-gun :? And once you get the idea, those chords are yours for life :wink:
The other useful mini-barre is "high" Am x07555, which is the same shape chord for all minor chords played off the high e string. You can start by just playing xxx555 and switching between that and xxx777 or such just to get the feel of the 3 string barre.
Please stay in touch and do let us know how the new mama thing is going as well! Picture would be nice HINT HINT :wink:
What if the Hokey Pokey IS what it's really all about?
~ why yes, I am available on youtube ~
http://www.youtube.com/stellabloo
bah! Stupid male-ego. I pushed it. My own fault. On a side note, I bought Blues You Can Use. Did the 1st lesson last night. Today's lesson involves barre chords. Alas, I'll have to wait. :lol: :lol:
Anyhow, related to Hotel VCalifornia, but quite off-topic, is this version that I'll never be able to do.......ever. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufc7Z76ko1Q&feature=related That's OK, though. Being able to hear such beauty is more than enough.
Roy
"I wonder if a composer ever intentionally composed a piece that was physically impossible to play and stuck it away to be found years later after his death, knowing it would forever drive perfectionist musicians crazy." - George Carlin
Izzy, remember.
Another creation of yours is this topic.
One that has made me especially fond of this forum.
So, you don't have the option of giving up on barre chords.
Just give it some time and persist.
Remember, it's guitar noise and no matter how we make it, it's our noise to make.
Hopefully, it is music. If not, make it joyful. :D
In the words of DerekSlide, "It's all good".
It's the rock that gives the stream its music . . . and the stream that gives the rock its roll.
Yeah, don't give up, just practice and you'll see...
I don't remember WHEN I became able to play those barre chords... Maybe when I learned Stairway to heaven, it helped me a lot, even if it was barre chords over 4 string only.
But you know, I think one day, I woke up and I was able to play barre chords! :roll:
So you should sleep a lot and woke up a lot and wish to be able to play barre chords every time you woke up :wink:
" First time I heard the music
I thought it was my own
I could feel it in my heartbeat
I could feel it in my bones
... Blame it on the love of Rock'n'Roll! "
Hi Isabelle - big hugs time.....Mmmmmmmmmmm
When we first started to learn the guitar at pretty much the same time C's, D's and Gs were difficult - apart from it hurting like hell getting those fingers used to pressing down on the wires.... then it was B's, F's and A's....all open chords and all tricky to start. Not surprising that countless singer/songwriters chose the open chords to write a lot of their well-known songs...they couldn't play barre chords at that time either... :wink:
I can probably spend a bit more time practicing than you because when my working day is over my time is my own, but you haven't got that luxury with your demanding entourage, but yup, sure as eggs are eggs, barre chords still give me headaches, heartaches, wrist aches etc etc etc... BUT, it WILL happen, it HAS to happen. Not only do we have to build up the strength in our fingers to hold a barre, we also have to sort out those darn synaptic links in our brain to get the other fingers on the strings we want to play with our barre...
Repetition, repetition, repetition - boring, tedious, but necessary. I must have been practicing my barre's for about six months now and they're getting better but the transition from one chord to another - phew, the links have still not formed yet... :cry: I reckon I'm going to have to write my first song using open chords unless a miracle happens in the next few weeks.
I remember a few weeks ago practicing a song using a couple of barre transitions and I started getting pins and needles in my wrist - I'd never had it before and believe me - I was really worried I'd done some damage. I gave it a rest for a couple of days and haven't had the problem again.... It scared me though...
I can't give you any more information that everyone else has apart from having the neck of the guitar as high as you feel comfortable with so your wrist doesn't need to twist so much. If the neck is low the wrist and fingers really have to stretch, and ouch, that does hurt after a while....
If playing the guitar was easy, everyone would be doing it - I'd love to know the statistics of people that have started learning to play and then given up because they find it too much effort opposed to those that keep pluggin' away until they can play a few chords and recognise a well-known tune - that to me, was the turning point... :D
Nobody said it would be easy, and they are right - but hey, isn't it going to be a sweet moment when it happens!
Rock on all fellow beginners and let us hail the mighty barre chord god, let us lay down an offering in your name so we can all be blessed with strong fingers and seamless open to barre transitions, accept these videos that we need your power to rain down upon us mere mortals....please....thankyou....
D 8)
ps My open chord transitions are still dubious and playing a song from beginning to end without error is impossible - thank the Lord for the word 'improvisation'.
I'm nowhere near Chicago. I've got six string, 8 fingers, two thumbs, it's dark 'cos I'm wearing sunglasses - Hit it!
Not that this really means anything since I'm not able to play barre chords consistently, but when I play them my index finger is bent a bit more than usual and that seems to put pressure at the top and bottom part of the finger (since that is only what you need when playing things like Bm) more than the middle, and that seems to help with the strain and pain in the finger. When I play things like F#7 or things where I have two fingers on the A and D strings I double up my fingers to get added pressure.
Of course if I'm playing a real F on the first fret then all bets are off those are evil :evil: so I cheat and play x03211 :lol:
Anyway, hope that helps some. Good luck!! You'll get it!!
In Space, no one can hear me sing!
Hi all
Well, here's my latest offering. I'm still not happy with my barres so I've picked an oldie, but goldie to excercise my vocal chords.
It is the first song I've recorded standing up and playing, which, if any of you armchair guitar players will know, it takes on a whole new dimension - the first thing I found is that you can't really stare at the fretboard - which can be a good and a bad thing... :oops:
I'm going to have to start gaining a bit of momentum and recording a bit more regularly otherwise I'm just practicing to get perfect and it ain't going to happen quickly so let's just go for it...
So, without further ado and striking my best rock guitarist pose....
I give you...
Knocking on Heaven's Door... I don't know why anybody's not answering.... :roll:
I actually feel like I should be on the underground station platform with a cap and scruffy old mongrel at my feet...
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=fzgLGT1OQ0g
Rock on and enjoy!
D 8)
I'm nowhere near Chicago. I've got six string, 8 fingers, two thumbs, it's dark 'cos I'm wearing sunglasses - Hit it!
Yeah man, way to go! Most admirable, besides the shades, youth, singing voice, etc, is that you kept the pace going as much as you did when you made mistakes. That is something. Several here always mention that the pace is the most important thing for us geetar-types. Well, pace or some word similar. I digress.
I liked your rhythm pattern as well. You were right in the video. It can be played many different ways.
Rock on brutha!
Roy
"I wonder if a composer ever intentionally composed a piece that was physically impossible to play and stuck it away to be found years later after his death, knowing it would forever drive perfectionist musicians crazy." - George Carlin
I echo Roy's comments.
Pleasant voice to listen to, Dylan, and in tune. I hope you continue to include singing in your future videos.
I just read (somewhere on this forum) a post about how important the singer in a group is.
I admire you for the many directions you have gone:
You took on the singing and do an excellent job.
You took on the barre chords and are slowly conquering them.
You took on the pick and didn't break it :shock:
Now you're playing standing up . . something I hadn't even thought about doing.
All this without throwing your guitar across the room!
Well done, DB!
Thanks for sharing the video.
And continue to . . .
.
.
.
wait for it . . .
.
.
Rock on! 8)
It's the rock that gives the stream its music . . . and the stream that gives the rock its roll.
Very good Dylan!
I like the way in which you add different chord voices to the basic chords. I didn't figure out! Thanks for the tip!
8) Great stuff Dylan, A whole song straight through.. phew.. I liked the little embellishments on the chords.. your voice is deadly, you sound very relaxed.. well done you! For only 10 months its pretty incredible isn't it, when you look back and see where you were.. yes you must post more often, its been quite a while!
You took on the singing and do an excellent job.
You took on the barre chords and are slowly conquering them.
You took on the pick and didn't break it :shock:
Now you're playing standing up . . something I hadn't even thought about doing.
All this without throwing your guitar across the room!
Hey Kenrogers, you been stalking and spying on me? Sheesh can't even have a good old game of guitar frisbee without someone squealing..! :wink:
Dylan.
Fantastic :mrgreen:
Cheers,
Simon
There are too many songs that have an 'F' chord in them.
Frickin awesome!!!!!!!!!!! Great job!!!!!!
:mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:
In Space, no one can hear me sing!
Great job Dylan. I haven't seen any of your videos since soon after you began the journey, and the improvement is fantastic. :)
What really struck me though was that you sang so well. When you've finished your 12 month guitar project I'd really urge you to follow it up with another one just like it for your voice. Good guitarists are always useful, but good singers are gold dust. If you took training your voice seriously you could really do great things with it. A good singer who can strum a few chords in time can usually get more attention, and go further, than someone who is reasonable on guitar but who can't sing.
Cheers,
Chris
Don't you just love that smile at the end of Dylan's video, the smug grin of the guy who knows he's getting good.
Well done mate :mrgreen: (this is me getting green with envy)
- still practising my Bm ON MY BRAND NEW EPIPHONE :D - I thought it was time to get a decent guitar. Or maybe I thought it wasn't me that couldn't play, it was the guitar - so I had to get a new one (when I got into card magic, I bought every single pack of cards under the sun - some of which are still unwrapped. And I still can't shuffle.)
I played it yesterday until the fingers hurt (I'd forgotten they could hurt :o ). I think I'm in love.
Sorry this is out of topic, but I can't resist. At Stella's request, pictures of the band:
Close up on the lead singer:
