I have recently discovered that I can play barre chords relatively well, both E and A shape, (major and minor) which, I have to say, has come a bit of a surprise to me! No way perfect but a lot better than 3 months ago. This may be because I have been doing these for quite sometime now and have built up hand strength. My hand position also seems to have improved.
I started on the F barre back in April 2022 (according to my log) and it took a full year to get this OK, although changing to other (open) chords was still a problem.
My April ā24 log noted:
āAs I noted this time last year, I can do the full barre F chord (up & down the neck) but chord changes to and from the barre are still giving me some grief at this point and are not really OK for songs! Iām doing PFCās at every practice session to help with this and am using songs with the F barre in them also as practice.ā
I have also learnt all the notes to strings 5 and 6, which I think is really important.
Combining all this together means that I have a range of chords available now that werenāt available with just open chords. I have now started re-learning songs using barres which has made me think which version of the barre (E or A shape) to use as chords are available with both shapes, although some are more obvious, and some closer together on the neck. The vintage & motivation clubs by @Richard_close2u and @LievenDV have really helped with this.
I also have started investigating what other types of chords are available with these barre shapes and how they can be used.
On the basis that these chords open up a lot more possibilities I am really surprised that Justin doesnāt really get to these until the last module of Grade 3, with more in the intermediate grades. My view, for what itās worth, is that these should be taught a lot sooner, although I appreciate that hand strength is required for this.
So overall Iām a lot happier now with my progress for this part of my guitar journey.
Good on ya, Stuart!
I found once I was able to play barre chords, I could tackle simple versions of almost any song (as the forum has found out )
I guess the lowest hanging fruit on āvariationsā is lifting the ringlittle finger on the E-shaped ones for 7th chords
āDoing E and A shape barres decentlyā is quite a milestone but hard to define.
Most of us canāt say on which day or month they could conclude that for themselves
Thatās because weare often our own hardest critics and as we go, we put stuff under the microscope and confront ourselves with āstuff that can be betterā
I think it is cool that you can mark this miletone and plant the flag on a certain spot, knowing that āperfectā will always be out there and āalways perfectā does not exist.
Yes, explore those shapes and remember where you are building on. In all these years, I had nobody confronting me that I was doing something wrong.
Also, Iām absolutely delighted I could help a little bit
Iām with you Stuart. I find barre chords fun and very useful. You know what else is fun: triads! Open chords, barre chords, triads - so many ways take three defining notes and make them sing.
I agree with you all and on average I am fine with barre chords apart from barring b at the second fret, donāt know why but I struggle very strange cheers Hec
Well done Stuart. The thing now is to set some time aside and play the songs you already know by substituting as many open chords as you can with barre chords. They wonāt necessarily sound better, indeed sometimes worse, but itās great practise both physically and mentally.
After reading this post, Sonny & Cherās āI Got You Babeā randomly popped into my head. Want to test your barre chords? The tab I found on Ultimate Guitar Pro is all barre chords, 9 different ones, heavily dependent on F and B flat.
Well done on your progress. Knowing these do open up the guitar more. I can do A shape and E shape no problem bad on occasion C shape so I have to work on the other shapes too now. Barre chords for me were something I just couldnāt see me learning , then during lockdown and boredom kicking in I just tried it and very quickly I seemed to pick it up and understand the connections with the notes on the E and A string suddenly everything seemed clearer. It happened without me realising if that makes sense, then of course itās changing chords smoothly and landing on the correct fret and strings which Iām happy to say is no longer a problem for me. I once again feel Iām at a brick wall again and Iām trying to discover how to get over that wall so I can continue to progress. So I need to stop shying away from C, G and D shapes.
Also found if you lift the first finger and leave the second you get a 6th! Not sure where I would use it though.
You are not wrong, In the relatively short time of cracking this I can see how useful they are going to be although one thing Iām not sure about is how do you play songs that are done with a capo and open chords. Not sure how that would work.
I can but not quickly. Work in progress. Itās easier keeping the song in all barres.
You did indeed.
Thatās something else Iām working on but havenāt progressed much at the moment.
Agreed and that is what I am working on. Have found that in some cases itās easier to play the chorus with barres and the verses with open chords.
I hope so.
Iāll have a look at that but 9 barres may be a step too far at the moment.
It does as that is what seems to have happened with me. One day rubbish, the next day better!!
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