Struggling with 'B' and related barre Chords

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Having wandered off-piste again from the course, I find myself in need of a barre chord, and have issues.
I want to learn the type of barre used in a B Major - the 3 string barre with 3rd finger, together with the 6 string full barre.

6 string one, (F style) is no longer an issue - I can get it right more than 90% of the time, though moving to and from it is still clunky.

Big issue is that A shaped barre; or should I say my wonky long finger that should play it!
I have fairly long fingers, and the tip of my 3rd finger is fairly long, so avoiding either the high E or the A string is really difficult.
It’s just about possible until I need to put down a 6 string barre behind it, when the angle of my hand obviously needs to change. Then I get one or the other open strings clunking.

To top it all, the end of the 3rd finger broke several years back, and set at a slightly wonky angle - the very tip is angled up about 15-20 degrees compared to the other hand. trying to get this oddball finger to sit straight is not something that it wants to do.

Any suggestions? Apart from grinding the end of the finger down on the grindstone, re-breaking it and sticking it back together with masking tape?

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I would suggest to move your fingers around til you get the sound and practice a lot until it’s perfect. No body will say exactly what will work for you .just like your f cord you will need to do it. Don’t stress and just practice.

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Check out Justin’s lesson here, most of the time It’s probably easier to just mute the high E string…

Half of the time, I play the 3 stings with my little finger, takes a bit longer to build up the strength but it makes for less stretching.

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I also use my pinky finger. I struggle with using my 3rd finger too.

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Me three. I have smaller hands and don’t have much flexibility along the length of my fingers, so my ring finger lays fully flat across the strings.

For the A shape barre cords on that end of the neck, u use my littlest finger. For that shape further up the neck, I am trying to use my ring.

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Me four - Another pinky user for the mini-barre, the tip of my little finger can bend the right way for the A-shape, my third finger don’t do it!

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There is a brand new set of lessons on A-shape barres released from today.
:slight_smile:

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I wish I had long fingers :blush:. Having long fingers gives you the option to put them almost perpendicular on the fretboard. Instead of barring the 3 strings, have you tried to use your 2nd, 3rd and 4th finger?

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Thanks for all the replies folks.
I will take a look at Justin’s new lessons (could have been created for me!) and see how I go.

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