Skip to content
Any pictures of how...
 
Notifications
Clear all

Any pictures of how you form your barres?

18 Posts
12 Users
0 Likes
2,852 Views
(@dylanbarrett)
Prominent Member
Joined: 17 years ago
Posts: 628
Topic starter  

Hi all.

Thought I better try to learn the correct way of forming a barre chord and want to see what different angles and shapes other people's fingers form... Hey, it's not a finger fetish thing :wink: - just want to know if what I'm doing looks right ... :lol:

I realise that it may just be whatever sounds right and keep practicing... I'm working on F#Minor and B Minor - good place to start I reckon....

Thanks

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!


   
Quote
 KR2
(@kr2)
Famed Member
Joined: 17 years ago
Posts: 2717
 

I'm just a beginner so I don't know if you want to hear from me but . . .
Getting the F-chord (barre) was a major hurtle for me.

To get the pressure you need, you'll need to twist your wrist so the thumb is behind the neck (not center back but more towards the top back). When you lay your index finger across the strings, twist the index finger so the outside of the finger (thumb side) is pressed against the strings. This twist will tend to lift your other fingers. I'm not laying the finger straight across the strings. The index finger has a slight curve but all of the finger is behind the fret. Also all my other fingers are leaning towards the nut. They seem to be almost lying on the strings they are leaning so much. But hey, it works for me.
Also, your other fingers will have a tendency to slide up. Keep them close to the fret.

Strum on,
Ken

It's the rock that gives the stream its music . . . and the stream that gives the rock its roll.


   
ReplyQuote
(@dylanbarrett)
Prominent Member
Joined: 17 years ago
Posts: 628
Topic starter  

Getting the F-chord (barre) was a major hurtle for me.

I know what you mean - I want 'hurtle' something sometimes when I can't it right... :lol:

I'd love to have a picture of what I look like, contorted like the Hunchback of Notre Dame, with my wrist, hand and fingers at an unfeasible and painful angle....

Yep my fingers are lying down also - I reckon I'm doing it the way you've described - sounds bloody awful at the moment. I saw a picture of someones barre and it looked so sereen and upright..... :twisted:

I just don't want to get into bad habits from the start...

Stay loose Ken, speak soon.

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!


   
ReplyQuote
(@musenfreund)
Illustrious Member
Joined: 22 years ago
Posts: 5108
 

If it's just a question of seeing some photos, check out Cyberfret. That might help.

Well we all shine on--like the moon and the stars and the sun.
-- John Lennon


   
ReplyQuote
(@dylanbarrett)
Prominent Member
Joined: 17 years ago
Posts: 628
Topic starter  

Thanks....ouch...who ever invented these things....?

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!


   
ReplyQuote
(@hbriem)
Honorable Member
Joined: 22 years ago
Posts: 646
 

Well, barre chords are the mainstay of every garage band full of 14 year olds who have been playing for 6 months, so they can't be *that* hard.

They take a bit of practice, but soon you won't be able to figure out what you thought was hard about them.

A few pointers:

1 - Not every note has to be clear as a bell. There's a lot of redundancy with 5-6 strings playing 3 notes. Relax.
2 - Practice flattening the index finger without the others.
3 - Practice the other fingers without the index finger. Get used to making E and A shapes without it.
4 - Roll the index finger slightly towards the nut.
5 - The other fingers are fretting most of the middle strings. The barre only has to hold down the "ends".
6 - Keep the thumb against the middle of the neck, approximately opposite the middle finger.

--
Helgi Briem
hbriem AT gmail DOT com


   
ReplyQuote
(@chris-c)
Famed Member
Joined: 19 years ago
Posts: 3454
 

+1 to all Helgi's points. :)

I'd say that the biggest trick with barre chords is understanding that you don't need to play every single string every time. Most chords only need three notes, so all six strings aren't always necessary. The full six string job can be tough to master, but many only need to be partial barres (i.e, as Helgi says, the barring finger mostly has to hold down the 'ends'. Often that only needs to be one end.

Problem knuckle that won't let you hold all the strings flat?
Hide it behind whichever strings are held down by your other fretting fingers.

Hard to do barres on an acoustic guitar?
Yes, it's harder than on an electric.

Do barre chords always take ages to learn?
Not always, but for most beginners - yes. Can be months. Do a few minutes barre practice each day - without stressing about whether you nail it quickly. A few weeks or months down the track, when you want to tackle barres properly, you'll be almost there already. Worked for me anyway.

Cheers,

Chris


   
ReplyQuote
(@diatonick)
Active Member
Joined: 17 years ago
Posts: 17
 

Hi,
It will take a good deal of time and practice to master all of these barre chord forms, but once you are comfortable playing them a whole new world of musical possibilities will open up for you.
Visit to see pictures at http://www.radioyur.com/les17.html

-diatonick

Free Video Reviews of Guitar Software
http://www.bestguitarsoftware.com


   
ReplyQuote
(@chris-c)
Famed Member
Joined: 19 years ago
Posts: 3454
 

Hi again,

Some photos and more discussion at another forum

Steve Cass' Barre Chord thread

Click on the line above.


   
ReplyQuote
(@dylanbarrett)
Prominent Member
Joined: 17 years ago
Posts: 628
Topic starter  

Hi all,

Thanks for all those useful pointers. Yup, guess it's going to take a while to get the barres sounding good.

I just have this nagging thought in my mind about not needing to cover all the strings in the barre... As I'm learning everything from scratch anyway, wouldn't it be best to try and develop a full barre action from the start (if physically possible) because I don't really know which other strings I'll be wanting to play along with open strings and it's a case of information overload about thinking where the knuckle is going to go behind whichever strings etc....?

Also, I've been looking at REM - Everybody Hurts, and the chorus uses F#m and Bm which are barre's (according to a vid) so to actually play this song I need to master the barre's.

Maybe I'm just trying to learn too much too soon. Guess I've just got to be patient... :wink:

Thanks all,

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!


   
ReplyQuote
(@stellabloo)
Estimable Member
Joined: 17 years ago
Posts: 189
 

Once I am able to post a picture of this I will leave the beginner' video thread forever LOL....
.. no - seriously! I don't think I tackled barre chords until about 5 or 6 mo into the game, basically once I had a few songs under my belt and most of the easy chords pat.
I bought a guitar book where the first lesson was switching between C and F and B7 and you weren't allowed to turn the page until you in perfect rhythm! Man, I hid that book.
I still avoid barre chords, at least 1st thing in the morning :twisted: .... didn't even give them much effort until I became obsessed with Mr Bojangles - who is still falling flat on his face too often BTW - and a few other songs I refuse to transpose
8) (DB guitarskool seal of approval?).

What if the Hokey Pokey IS what it's really all about?

~ why yes, I am available on youtube ~
http://www.youtube.com/stellabloo


   
ReplyQuote
(@simonsays)
Estimable Member
Joined: 17 years ago
Posts: 91
 

I really believe that barre chords are a 'rite of passage' that all guitarists must experience. They really open up the range of music you can take on. (Learning 'Hotel California' was my motivation to start on barres)
I've got to the stage where my own barres are actually getting there. I can fret them fairly cleanly and move the shapes up and down the neck. What I find really hard is changing between different shapes and mixing them with open chords :roll: I also get a LOT of string noise when I'm moving chords up and down the neck :(

Good luck

Simon

There are too many songs that have an 'F' chord in them.


   
ReplyQuote
(@kent_eh)
Noble Member
Joined: 18 years ago
Posts: 1882
 

I took a couple of pictures a few months ago for another thread.
Here's F Minor
and G sharp Minor

Beginners will note that they are exactly the same fingering, just moved up the fretboard 3 frets. (F-F#, F#-G, G-G#)
The magic of movable chord shapes.

Is it easier to see the picture from the player's point of view, rather than the audience's? It appears I thought so when I took the pictures.

I wrapped a newspaper ’round my head
So I looked like I was deep


   
ReplyQuote
(@tinsmith)
Prominent Member
Joined: 19 years ago
Posts: 830
 

You will find out how to do these things from a natural progression of learning chords from the first position, then going elsewhere.

Don't be in such a rush. You will learn when it is your time. Stop trying to learn everything at once.

You learn by playing songs, not by looking it up on the internet.


   
ReplyQuote
(@crkt246)
Honorable Member
Joined: 17 years ago
Posts: 592
 

I am a fellew newbie to guitar but wean i try barre chords like G miner I move my finger on to the 4th string 1 fret above where the string is pressed


   
ReplyQuote
Page 1 / 2