A shaped Barre Chord!

Depends on whether I want that note or not.

+1 on Arjen's

Do you guys mean that note at that location?
If I am not mistaken, in an A shaped barre chord, that very note appears on the D string as well.

It's all about voicing. The lowest note (either on your guitar or the bass) gives a good indication of the chord being used and the topnote should enhance the melody. So if I want an E as topnote I leave out the e-string and if I want an A at the top I do use it. Any other A just thickens the sound a bit. So if you're in a band, with drum, guitar, vocal and bass you can approach it as such: the bass will accentuate the root note, the vocals will do the melody. You pick a note that's related to the melody and fill the lower strings up with notes as you please. In this case you would need a C# and E somewhere to make the triad complete, so [x x 6 5 5] would do if you wanted an A on top. Any more notes are just decoration, use them as you please.

Other voicings, asuming the bass plays the root:
[x x x x 13 12] C# E
[x x x 9 x 9] E C#

Voicings with the complete triad:
[x x x 14 13 12] A C# E
[x x x 9 10 9] E A C#

As you can see you don't need a barre for any version whatsoever and they are just as moveable. :D

This is something that happened by itself.....when I first started playing A-shaped barres, I used to worry because I was muting the top E string....I've always played it with my first finger making the barre, and my third finger making a mini (or half) barre two frets up. Then when I realised I didn't need the top E string, so consequently didn't bother whgether it sounded or not, I found it was actually ringing clear....I suppose some of that is muscle memory, and some of it down to increased finger/hand strength, but I didn't consciously work on it - it just happened!

:D :D :D

Vic

Thx Vic, thats exactly the approach I have thought out for myself.
I haven't been using the A shaped barre chord as I can't get the note on E to ring out.
And I am quite sure, I can't get it to ring because I havent practiced it enough.
A vicious cycle if you ask me! :)

Again, depends if I want it... but I voted yes as I almost always do :)

I almost always let it ring just because it is easier than trying to mute it for me. Besides, in some songs it just sounds better. So, it is really a matter of choice since it is a redundant note anyway.

If i play the A shape with a barre (usually 1st or 3rd finger), i can't help but mute the high e string.

Only if i use 3 fingers to play an A chord can i get the high e to ring out... This is the same with barres further up the neck aswell.... If i barre the A shape (above the 4th fret, or so), i automatically mute the high e... If I use 3 fingers, i can get the high e to ring.

On my classical i don't have this problem, due to the wider fingerboard... Obviously a disadvantage of having long fingers playing a narrow neck guitar.

This is the ONLY technique i've given up on since i started playing guitar. I put it down to physiology. No matter how hard i practice i'll never get my finger to fit between those strings. I need an electric axe with a wider fretboard [/end drunken babbling]

I always let it ring.

I play mostly acoustic, and I'm still working on getting better at barre chords.

The A shape (and the A minor shape) is one of the few barres that I'm getting almost adequate at. So I always get the highest string to ring out - I'm so darned chuffed to be able to get it all to work that I still get enormous pleasure just from hearing it! :wink: