If you’re someone who struggles with this, try this work around: Watch Now for Free! Use Your Picking Arm for Cleaner Barre ChordsĪs any one who has played a few barre chords will tell you, they require a decent amount of grip strength – this can quickly tire out your hands and forearms! Heavy strings will make barring more difficult.įor more on barre chords, check out Chapter 5 of our Guitar Fundamentals 2 course with Anders Mouridsen.Discover the unusual method used by 36,534 guitar students. If you suspect poor action, go to your local guitar shop and see if they can adjust it to help improve comfort and playability. A lot of guitars have high action, which makes it really hard to sound barre chords. Try different places along the fretboard and see where you're most comfortable, moving closer and closer to the first fret.ġ0. It can be much easier than starting on the first fret as the tension isn't as great. If your fingers are really weak, try barring on the fifth fret. If your hands aren't developed, you'll start to feel it in your forearms after about 20-30 repetitions.ĩ. Easy enough, yes? Now work your way up to doing it 200 times, as fast as you can, making sure you snap the fingers open and closed all the way each time. Extend the fingers of both hands all the way out then close the fingers to a fist. Remember to shoot for quality, not speed.Ĩ. Do this exercise daily to strengthen your fingers. Once you play through the entire exercise, move to the second fret and repeat, then to the third, the fourth, making your way up to the twelfth fret and then back down again. Next, barre the first three strings in the first fret and strum. Press hard enough so that each note sounds. Next, barre the first two strings in the first fret. Start with your index finger on the first fret, first string. Approach the barre like you would any task that seems overwhelming: break it down into smaller, more manageable pieces. Learn to switch from one barre chord to the next.ħ. Start by replacing an open chord for a barre, then gradually add more barres to the song. Make it a habit to practice every song with them. Dedicate a portion of your practice session to barre chords. Keep a close eye on your fingers and hand position.Ħ. Make sure your thumb is right behind the neck to give the finger enough support. Try rolling your finger to the side a bit. Alter the positioning of your index finger slightly up or down to see if you can fix any buzzing or muffled strings.
If your hand cramps, by all means take a break! - but do come back later.ĥ. You will build the strength to play almost any barre chord. The important thing is to work through it. Yes, learning to play barre chords can get a bit uncomfortable, just as learning to fret notes did before you built calluses. Keep the pressure as even as possible across all the strings, and experiment to see how much pressure you need to clear the chord without overtaxing your hand. While it's important to press your finger firmly down on the strings to make them sound, you don't want to push too hard and risk straining your hand. But this will make the chord sound fuzzy! Make sure your index finger is straight and close to the fret.ģ. It's tempting to place the index finger at a slight diagonal so that it's further from the fret on the first string. Just like you learned to play notes and simple chords, learning to play barre chords is a process.Ģ. Your fingers not only need to build strength, they also have to get comfortable with the chord shapes.
The ability to play barre chords is an acquired skill. Don't expect your barres to sound great right out of the gate. Here are 10 solid tips to help you master the mighty barre:ġ. What makes this difficult is the tension of the strings and the dexterity needed to hold them all down at once to produce a chord that sounds clean and clear.
#Bar chord a ten thumbs full#
Playing a full barre chord involves using the index finger across the entire set of strings.
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