Jan 05 2009
Barred chordes!
Hey music lovers!
Today’s topic is barred chords on the guitar. I personally avoided barred chords like the plague for the past twenty years or so. Recently a good friend of mine explained barred chords to me. They take a little more hand strength to master, but practicing until you get it right will pay off. The idea is to bar all six strings at fret with your index finger. Then use the other three fingers to note a chord. The major chords are all the same hand position. That is barred at a fret with the index finger, then the third finger noting the third string. The second finger notes the fourth string on the second fret from the barred chord. The third finger will note the fifth string two frets from the barred finger also. The fourth and fifth fingers are on the same fret. With your hand holding this chord shape, different chords can be made by sliding your hand up and down the neck. For example if you barred the first fret the chord would be F major, the second fret would be F#, the third fret would be G major and so on. Practice barred chords every day to build up that chord hand.
Good Luck! Bob!
Minor chords are also super easy to play barred, though major 7ths can require some pinky contortions.
And don’t forget the bastard cousin of the barre chord, the power chord. It’s just the root, 5th and octave and can be played with just 2 fingers.