Hi Stuart. Two reasons that I know of. Firstly if you play short form barre chords it is far easier to know what chords to play. If the key is in E the major chords are E, A and B. 1, 4 and 5. If it is in G the major chords are G, C and D. But it is easier to just play a shape out of one 5th or 6th string note. I suppose it is like having an invisible capo.
Secondly when playing in a band you need to sit in amongst the sounds and not overwhelm it all with ringing chords. So the guitar becomes more percussive and the barre type chords lend themselves directly to this sort of playing.
Justin covers all this stuff, but it is buried in the 1000’s of lessons and is not specifically related to band playing.
I just found this Stuart. It doesn’t relate to the 1, 4, 5 bit, but to the percussive use of barre chords. This is in the context of blues, but the same applies to other styles. A couple of lessons earlier is one on blues in all keys. That will give you an idea about the 1, 4, 5 bit.
Wow! That’s really cool. Grats on finding people to hang with. Really great to hear you confirm everything you’ve been learning “In the school of Justin” too.
It’s hilarious that I’m able to give myself a panic attack about thinking about starting a conversation with my neighbor about guitar because the guy can sing.
Holy moly! Hat’s off to you for putting yourself out there like that!
Currently I still get nervous when my GF is in the room while playing!
Cool to hear that it is such a learning experience though!
I have been ‘lucky’ enough to play in lots of situations with other people in the past couple of years. It does get less stressful. I can still remember the first time at a little community session when I was trying to look at the chords and words, and the fretboard, and keep my face in front of a microphone. So overwhelming.
I hear you. I took my guitar to my in-laws place to do some practice and my Father in law asked me to play something. Everything in my brain evaporated
That’s awesome! Keep it up! That first time is the absolute hardest.
The first time I got together with established musicians, it was terrifying. I went to an audition for a new band where I’d be the only guitar player. The bassist, who also played guitar in three other bands, started going off, the drummer jumped in, and I just froze with no idea of what key we were in, let alone what to play. It was awful.
But then we took a break and tried again, this time with me starting and the others jumping in, and that worked. We jammed for half an hour, everyone seemed to enjoy it, and I got called back for a second audition. It didn’t end up working out, but was a great experience regardless.
I really need to look for people to play with and get out there again.
