Barre chords (the dreaded F chord) are difficult. And when practiced with bad technique can lead to pain and possible injury.
I learned that the hard way - suffered through a year of pain with tennis elbow caused by improper practice, which definitely set my playing back.
I’m learning them again, with much more care. Here’s how I practice now.
If you have questions, comments, suggestions, or warnings - let me know.
Safe practice, everyone!
Based on @CateB 's comments in her “Conquered” topic, I want to stress some points that I might have glossed over in the video.
F is the worst introduction to barre chords! It’s way down at the bottom of the neck, close to the nut, where the strings are hardest to press and the frets are furthest apart. It’s no wonder we struggle with it.
Learn the shape higher up the neck, where you can comfortably get your fingers up against the frets without stretching. Probably somewhere between the 4th and the 8th should work.
Get all the strings ringing, without excess tension, on the higher frets first. Might take a few days - so be it.
Probably best to only practice this for 3 - 5 minutes a day at first. If your hand starts hurting, try to relax your grip, if it keeps hurting, stop and try again tomorrow for a shorter time.
Then, work down the neck one fret at a time, troubleshooting as you go. You will have to adjust your fingers, wrist, and elbow as you go down the neck.
I don’t know if it was clear from the video how I was just focusing on feeling the B string buzzing under my index finger, and only increasing pressure there until it rang, while letting my other fingers just rest on the strings.
I thing the common reaction is to just grip harder with the whole hand to solve muted strings, which leads to all kinds of problems. This exercise should help with that.
Also, I forgot to mention that changing index finger position slightly can often help with the B string.
Thinking I might do a short video just on the B string problem child…lots of people struggle with it.
That’s one of the main tips I give my students too. Usually I ask them to try A (5th fret) first 
cheers
Outside of the classical position, everything in this video was a part of my finally getting proficient with barre chords. I particularly agree with:
Don’t start with the F chord. I actually found the B minor (using the A minor shape barred at second fret) was the easiest for me to learn because 1) it’s not barred on the first fret) and 2) the B string is fretted with your middle finger which avoids having to fret it with the barred index finger.
Play each chord as light as you can for as short a period as possible. Trying to hold down a barre chord for multiple measures is a sure path to injury when you are just learning. I actually found this video on reggae rhythm to be super helpful to learning to press only when you need sound - pay particular attention when he talks about adding and subtracting note content at the 4:33 mark in the video.
Thanks Tom. The B did continue to be that problem child so will solely focus on 5th fret for now and graduate down when I’m feeling ready to.
Greatly appreciate all your help. Thank you
Good point…I actually learned that first, for Wicked Game and Comfortably Numb.
But the same tips work - start higher up the neck and get all strings ringing before moving down the neck.
Also a very good point. I tried to demonstrate that later in the video by just fretting the chord on the 1 in each measure, and playing muted strums on the rest. Hold down the chord for more strums as you improve.
I’m trying to use the pullback method, and I swear it feels like I need the strength of 50 men to get the strings to ring, especially on minor barres. That’s exaggerating of course, but I say it takes more muscle engagement than I am comfortable with to do the pullback technique. The hand, forearm, bicep and shoulder, are all significantly engaged and that’s just the fretting side. It also engages the strumming arm in a way I’d not otherwise introduce tension. I don’t know how people get this technique to work and stay relaxed. Im practicing on acoustic just to compare it to electric and I do not like it at all. I wouldn’t ever play acoustic if I had to play this way all the time.
I’d compare it to if you were starting to run. You wouldn’t start with a marathon or expect to get there quickly. I did start learning the F chord early in my guitar journey but crucially I only tried for a minute or 2 at a time, maybe a couple of times each day and gradually it does come. I agree with what you’re saying about pulling with the arm as opposed to trying to do it purely with the hand.
I’m working on barre chords further up the neck at the moment and have gone back to my same approach and it is working. Practicing regularly in very short bursts. A week ago it was torture but I already feel I’m getting somewhere with it.
I think accuracy is important and potentially overlooked when people talk of barre chords. Everyone tries to crush the life out of their fretboard but very few talk about accuracy. I can see from my own practice, that really getting my fingers as close as I can to the fret wires has a big impact on how clean my chords sound and the pressure required. The difference every millimetre makes is more than you’d think.
I think you’re right. I’ll make sure to do shorter bursts of barre chord exercises consistently, and strive for accuracy. Even if strings don’t ring out every time, I supposed the placement of fingers is what’s important. And hope it comes over time!
Now that I finally can do barre chords, I’m amazed at how little pressure it really takes to make them work. But, when I was learning them, it seemed that no amount of pressure was enough.
My suggestion is to make barre chord practice a 5 minute practice item in your practice routine. Start off with the E-Shape Barre chord (the dreaded F barre chord when you do this at the 1st fret) at the 3rd fret. This would make it a G barre chord.
Now, fret the strings and pick each individual string. If one or more strings is “dead”, move your index finger or other finger around to try to fix it. Work on finding the optimal position of all your fingers while keeping your wrist angle from becoming uncomfortably bent. DO NOT FIX IT BY SQUEEZING HARD!!!
Relax your left hand, then try it again. Do this over and over for the 5 minutes, then move on to something else. Repeat this every time you practice (daily, right 
)
Eventually, you’ll discover the best position and angle of all your fingers necessary to fret all 6 strings without choking the neck like your trying to strangle your guitar. Then, you can begin to try some chord changes, like G - Am or G - C. Once that becomes more comfortable and you can do ~30 changes per minute, try moving the barre down to the first fret (F barre). You’ll likely need to suss out your finger positions a bit due to the different position, but your hand will be stronger and your brain will be rewired due to the earlier practice, so the new position should take less time to get used to.
YMMV
I agree with this. As per my earlier comment I think it’s about finding every last millimetre, getting the fingers as close to the fret wire as possible, to the point that they almost appear to be overhanging it (but aren’t because the note still rings). This greatly reduces the pressure needed in my experience
So you’re saying to fix it by pulling back with the arm more?
No. Pulling back hard is the same as squeezing hard. It’s about finding the right placement of your fingers so you only have to exert minimal push or pull.
Kudos and good vibes for sharing this Tom. I’m sure many people will benefit from it.
No, I’m saying adjust the position of your fingers and squeeze or pull-back less. You don’t need that much pressure to make all 6 strings ring clean on an E-shape barre chord. I hardly squeeze at all, and don’t pull back with my arm, and my F barre chord rings clean, now that I’ve taught myself the proper finger positions for my anatomy.
Thanks, Richard!
The post didn’t seem to get much notice when I put it up a couple years back. Nice to see it getting some attention…especially when some of our members are apparently suffering from repetitive stress injuries.
I know several members have reported success with the pullback method, but I don’t think it helps me. In fact, I just recently noticed that I was pulling back with my strumming arm when playing the C chord, and think it may be causing some problems when fretting the C chord (which has always felt clumsy when I play it).
Tension in one part of the body can often leads to tension in other parts…it’s important to recognize this and minimize it.
Perhaps it’s a good technique for some people when they get started with barre chords, but then something you should move beyond as you progress?
Hmmm everything in moderation I’d say. Pulling back with my arm definitely helps me but I’m not talking about trying to pull my hand through the fretboard. A bit pressure from your hand and a bit from your arm means that neither one of them have to be excessively tense. I find the pull back just helps a little bit pulling my barre finger onto the strings, particularly the thin strings
I’m not sure, the whole thing confuses me as to how so many people tout it as the essential technique to use for barres. I get it that it’s described as being something that eventually becomes second nature, as guitar techniques tend to do. But it’s def a concerted effort for me right now and it doesn’t feel natural at all. Especially acoustic. Obviously it’s much less tension on my electrics. I just don’t want to hurt myself, so I’ll give it a shot. And you mentioned the C chord, I pretty much hate that chord and the more I play it the more I hate it.
Yep, it’s my second most Difficult cord… After bar chords.
But it’s in an awful lot of beginner songs, so I’ve had to suck it up