Play Guitar and Trick # 1 to Get Better Barre Chords
Most beginning guitar students begin by learning the major open chords. The open E, G, D, C and so on. Add in a few minor and seventh variations, and you’re well on your way.
After overcoming the normal hurdles of teaching uncooperative fingers to twist and twist in unfamiliar contortions and, of course, the stabbing pain required by raw virgin meat rubbed on the fingertips, the new guitar student typically learns. to master basic chords fairly. at the beginning of the game.
For many, a particularly challenging chord in the early days is the F chord played in the open position. I can still remember my struggles with the F chord, some thirty-odd years ago.
Much of the challenge of the F chord has to do with the fact that you have to press two strings with one finger. In essence, we are experiencing our first exposure to a kind of “barre” chord, having to use our index finger to simultaneously play the two notes on the first fret of the first and second strings.
Then a little later in our guitar playing journey we are introduced to the dreaded barre chord.
The first few days of trying to learn the barre chords feel like a fresh high school graduate on day one as a freshman in college.
All that confidence that built up from mastering the open chords, major and minor and seventh chords, feeling like an old pro on top of the heap, flies like a rocket out the window when the first few stabs are taken when playing the chords. bar.
The first challenge is having to retrain our fingers to form some of the chords that we thought we already had. We need to figure out how to play the “E” shaped bar and “A” bar chords using different fingerings than the ones we learned to play in the open position.
Then, of course, comes the challenge of taking our index finger and placing it on the fretboard to form the “bar”. At first, it feels awkward, as the initial harsh, hollow notes squeak.
And to add insult to injury, we begin to feel that old, familiar pain again, only this time it runs down the length of the index finger, rather than just the tip.
But it can be helpful to the guitar student venturing into the barre chords, that there is a way to play them that will greatly increase your chances of sonic success.
Beyond all the weird new meanders you have to run your fingers through when you first try barre chords, you might be surprised to learn that the real secret to successful barre chords lies in the thumb.
In terms of guitar instruction and education, there have always been opposing views regarding the placement of the thumb when playing the guitar.
Many “conventional” training programs advocate keeping the thumb on the back of the neck when playing. And there is merit in this theory.
Other programs say that wrapping the thumb around the neck when playing is satisfying. This theory also has merits.
Personally, I firmly believe that what is most comfortable for the individual is the right thing to do.
Like a golfer with an unorthodox swing constantly driving down the fairway, many famous guitarists learned to play “unconventionally” and challenged established teaching methods.
However, in the case of barre chords, keeping your thumb on the back of the neck is almost essential.
The extra pressure required to successfully play a barre chord makes it nearly impossible to play one any other way.
When your thumb is positioned at the midpoint of the back of the guitar’s neck, it is in a pivot position. From this position, the thumb can act as a “brace” on the neck when forming a barbell string.
Virtually all of the pressure you need to form a barbell string will be produced with your thumb in this “nape” position.
As an experiment, take your guitar and play an A major bar chord at the fifth fret. Test it first by encircling the neck with your thumb.
It is very difficult from this angle. You feel awkward and your index finger has a hard time hitting the “bar.”
Now try it with your thumb on the back of your neck. Can you feel the increase in pressure you have achieved just by changing the position of your thumb?
So, if you are in the early stages of learning to play barre chords and are having a hard time getting the proper pressure from your fingers, consider the fact that real success in playing barre chords may lie in your power. thumb.
