Barre chords challenge

[Emilio]

Guys

Griff has done a great job of explaining the theory behind barre chords, and for the first time in my learning experience I really do get the use of the major, minor and seventh chord shapes, for which I am very grateful.

I am currently working on the “ 6th Avenue” chord” progression and am finding this a huge challenge physically. I cannot seem to get the chords sounding clean, no matter what I try. It seems that my index finger does not have the ability to barre all six strings in one go. I think I even heard the neck on my strat creaking at one point, not to mention the agony in my wrist...

I have so far put several practice sessions into this exercise and seem to be getting nowhere fast. Is this a simple matter of hand strength, or am I just doing something very wrong?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions

 

[MikeS]

Well... without being able to see what you are doing, it's hard to say, but my money is on time and practice. Barre chords are hard at first. Try to just hold the barre. Forget about your other fingers, keep them up and out of the way, and see if you can get each string to ring clean. If you can, which I'll bet you can, then it's just a matter of building up the strength and feel of holding everything at once. The muscle at the base of my thumb gets sore if I play barre chords for very long. I sometimes have to change chord shapes within a song because if it. The more you play, the stronger that muscle will get.
Keep at it, you'll get there.
Mike

 

[IrishRover]

Emi - I agree with Mike, it's one of those practice, practice practice things.  It's a strength & technique thing.  The better your technique the less strength you'll need but you will need to build up some of the muscles you haven't used much before.  I know there has been some negative mention of the Gripmaster but I use one ( blue - light tension) just to start warming up.  Others have squeezed a tennis ball to increase hand strength.

[glow=yellow,2,300]There was a whole thread on barre chords not long ago and you might get some help looking over it.[/glow]  One thing I can think of is to make sure your index finger is very close to the fret - not in the middle of the space between them.

Found it - here it is

http://bluesguitarunleashed.com/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1250881290

 

[Ray_UK]

One of the things that helped me was to stiffen the index finger rather than 'wrap' it which felt more natural at first

 

[ihop]

The ache at the bottom of the thumb, oh yah..... it's just a matter of time and practice. One day you got it. Watch you don't get a string in the knuckle groove of the finger, move in or out a little for that, stay close to the fret and work through the pain. No pain no gain, that saying was written by Barthomual Chord. No just kidding.

 

[Lame_Pinky]

We all know that God invented bar chords for one particular reason - for Keith Richard's. I mean think of Brown Sugar without bar chords  

LP

 

[Bluewater]

or Keith Richards without open G tuning for that matter.
Dave

 

[Emilio]

Thanks for the tips guys

 

[Lame_Pinky]

Emi are you playing the bar/barre chords on your acoustic or electric ? Many people find it hard ( to get a decent sound from bar chords ) on an acoustic especially early on or if they are new to them.
If you are on the acoustic then perhaps practicing on the electric until they are more comfortable then trying on the acoustic.Was just a thought that came to me several hrs after reading this - fast man, fast !  :-/

LP

 

[Emilio]

Hi LP

I have two electrics. 1 with 11's and another with 12's and my acoustic has 13's.

Fact is I can’t seem to “barre\barre’\bar” anything for toffee at the moment!
To be honest I am probably expecting everything to happen too fast as usual, so it probably is simply a case of practice, practice, practice and one armed chin ups!

I really do hope this turns out to be a matter of weeks, rather than months or even years. I am also going to take a look at the YouTube link from Dave over lunch to see it helps.

 

[MikeS]

Lighter strings would make it easier too. I use 9's on my Epi LP and 10's on MIA Strat. On the other hand, If you learn to barre and bend with the heavier strings, you will like the tone better. It will just take more time.
Mike

 

[RichC]

It definetly takes time to develop the strength in your fingers to do bar chords correctly. Are you having problems on all positons or only those located higher on the neck (like a F major - bar on the first fret) If thats it as Mike said try a lighter string would help. I use 10s but Im thinking of going to 9s on certain guitars which are just more of a challange to play ( for me my strat and my teli)Why not go to a guitar store (or a friends) and ask to see a guitar with 9s on it; play it and see if that helps.Good Luck

 

[Lame_Pinky]

Yeah I 2nd Mike & Rich's comments there ( or is it 3rd ? ) definately go to some lighter strings 009-038 once you get the hang of bar chords & are progressing into BGU you can then change up to a higher gauge.Those .13's must be like steel cables !Another thing that can be donne to help warm up to bar chords is to play them just by making the bar with your index finger -don't form the rest of the chord yet- & go up & down a few steps jst getting some accuracy & placement plus you can hear which string/s may be muted or a little fuzzy.That may mean adjusting the position of your finger, you may have the crease of your finger directly over a string & this means it is not depressed properly.As you get more confidence with it then start to form the chord & do it higher up on the neck say a B or C ( 7th & 8th fret ) it should be a little more comfortable there as you won't have to stretch to much.the slowly bring it up(or is it down ? ) to A then G then F.
You'll get there & it won't take long at all.

LP

 

[Emilio]

Hi guys

I really do love the tone of the heavier gauged strings, especially on my home brew ThinLine, P90 Telecaster, with jumbo frets? In fact this is my favourite sounding guitar and the 12 – 56 Ernie ball’s really bring the thing to life. With the chambered body the Parts Caster is almost as loud as my acoustic (unplugged), and with a beautiful warm tone...But I guess that’s for another discussion

Reading through your recent comments I think I might experiment with Eb tuning for a while, to relieve some of the string tension.

Thanks again for the useful suggestions

 

[560sdl]

My problem with barre chords is no longer the barre.  It is getting all the rest of the darn fingers where I want them, WHEN I WANT THEM THERE!

But it does just take time.  Many prospective guitar players have given up just trying to learn the full "F" chord.

 

[Lame_Pinky]

You will like the tone a lot more when you can play some rock'n bar chords on them , so maybe for now the lighter gauge would be better on  at least one of your guitars to practice the chords with.

LP

 

[Emilio]

I have order up some GHS Nickel Rockers 10-46.

Thought I would give something new a try

 

[Lame_Pinky]

Yeah that was a struggle to get the fingers all the way over there-to the 3rd fret- but have you tried the Bb/A# bar chord yet ? I'm sure you'll love it  ;D

LP

ps oh I mean at the 1st fret position , no cheating now !

 

[Griff]

As much as I'd love to say this is a matter of strength, that's really only a small part of the equation.

It may be that your hands are not quite strong enough to hold a barre, but it's more likely that they are not positioned in the exact right spot.

Unfortunately, there is going to be one sweet spot, and it's going to be different for everyone depending on your physiology. And I want to be clear that no type of finger is better than any other. Whether they are long or short, thin or wide, doesn't matter. You have to find the sweet spot for you.

When you practice a barre chord, strum it one string at a time and notice which ones don't come out....

If the 6th, 5th, 4th, and 3rd strings come out, but you are struggling with the top 2 (the skinny ones) then consider yourself in good shape and don't let that hold you back. You'll see why about the time you get to lesson 4 in BGU.

If you want to take a few minutes to fix the notes that don't sound, make tiny movements with your hand. Don't lift it up and start over, you need to learn to fix those little things on the fly. Every time you lift your hand up you start over from scratch. You need to make tiny movements, aiming for the boniest parts of your fingers pushing down on the strings as close to the frets as possible.

If you focus on all of your precision elements, and place your fingers exactly right, it takes very little strength to get the notes to all come out.

But it will take time and patience. Like I said if you are getting the bottom 4, you're well on your way and the rest will follow in time so don't let that stop you.

 

[Emilio]

Thanks Griff

I have been practicing “Straight down 6th avenue” for nearly two weeks now and I think my technique is definitely improving. I will try and pay more attention to finding the sweet spot and committing it to memory.

I did try out a friend’s Strat with 10’s on it last night, and the thing was definitely a lot easier to play. I think I managed the progression almost clean, apart from the D chord up on the 10th fret, so I will experiment with string gauges for sure.  

The only thing that does concern me slightly about the string gauge change is that I will never be able to Barre properly on my acoustic. But I guess at this stage of the game I should probably go a bit easier on myself.

I know some of guys here think 13’s are heavy, but my Guild is concert bodied and needs the 13’s for the extra volume and optimal tone

Thanks again for your input. It is very much appreciated