Discussion on Bar Chords

Okay, we're gonna have a little discussion about bar chords now. These can be a real challenge when you first look at them. I know a lot of people struggle, myself included.

When I first started and was first presented with a bar chord, it just didn't seem to work for quite a while. There are a few little things I can maybe help you with that might enable that confidence to come a bit quicker with this technique.

What is Barring?

So first of all, what is barring?

Barring is simply when you cover more than one string with one finger.

• A really small bar would be:
  • If I went on the third fret and just covered the B and E strings, that's the smallest bar that I could do, two strings.

So, I'm using one finger to play two notes there.

Full-Size Barre Chords

Now, with full-size barre chords, often what's required is that we're covering all six strings with your first finger and then fretting some of the middle strings with other fingers to produce a chord.

We're going to have a look at playing a chord you're probably familiar with already, which is G major, but we're going to look at playing it as a bar chord instead.

It's a slightly different sound, but it's all the same notes happening, just a different position to play this chord.

The Bar

First of all, the bar:

• We are going to place our first finger across all six strings.
• Before we even add any of the other fingers, it's important to be able to play the bottom string (the E) and then the G, B, and E strings.

Okay, so you can hear there are no buzzes there. I'm getting quite a nice, even amount of pressure from this first finger. It's being quite strong now.

Angling the Finger

It takes a bit of getting used to this. But what you might find helps you is just rotating that first finger ever so slightly. Rather than it being straight onto the strings, you can give yourself a little bit of an angle.

• This helps ensure that the ridges in your fingers won't fall on the strings, causing them to be muted.

By just going slightly on the side of your finger, you can see the ridges don't wrap all the way around your finger.

• You just go ever so slightly on the side, and you'll get a much cleaner bar.

So, you can just see I've got ever such a slight angle on that first finger, and it really helps to get a clean bar across there.

Adding Other Fingers

Now, here's the tricky bit:

What we've got to do is maintain that pressure to keep it nice and clean while adding our other fingers to create our full chord.

• What we've done here with the other fingers is form an E major chord.

E major was this shape down here. A really useful practice technique is to try an E major chord with the wrong fingers.

• My second, third, and fourth fingers are playing an E major chord, and then I move it up three frets, keeping the same shape before adding my bar at the end.

Practicing Chords

What I feel is a really, really strong way of practicing chords is by arpeggiating them with the right hand.

Whenever you're learning any new chord, whether it's a bar chord or just an open chord, it's a great way of ensuring you have an absolutely pristine, clean chord.

Let me demonstrate for you:

• If I strum this chord and then pick it, I've confirmed that all the notes are there.
• If you're not familiar with the sounds of these chords, you could be forgiven for thinking, "Yeah, I've got four or five notes there."

But if I actually check, there are a few notes that haven't made the cut and aren't as clean as they should be.

Checking for Clean Notes

It's great to, rather than just jumping straight in and strumming the chord, actually pick the strings individually to ensure they are all really nice and clean.

If they're not, there are usually a few culprits at play here:

1. Position of your barring finger: If it's not nice and straight with the frets, if it's at an angle, that can be one problem.
2. Pressure with your first finger: Sometimes this isn't enough, especially on the top strings.
   • You need to imagine an arc of pressure across your barring finger.
3. Other fingers: Make sure they're on their fingertips. If they're flat, they will start cutting each other off, preventing a clean chord.

You've got this weird hybrid of placements: a really flat first finger and the rest of your fingers resting on their fingertips.

Thumb and Wrist Position

It can take a bit of time to get used to this feeling, it feels a little bit unnatural at first.

• My thumb position is nice and centered, maybe in the top third of the neck, and I can get a nice thumbprint on there.
• My wrist and elbow are nice and relaxed.
• I've got a little air gap at the back, which are all good things to help me hopefully get a nice clean chord.

Caution with Practice

Lastly, on this subject, be careful of practicing barre chords for prolonged periods.

If you're new to them, you will probably find that inevitably you're going to apply too much pressure with your barring finger to start. This can be painful after a while.

• I recommend practicing them for a little bit at a time until you start to refine your technique.
• Aim for five or ten minutes, then give yourself a rest and practice something else that doesn't involve barring.

Come back to it the next day and keep revisiting; it will slowly get better over time.

It will definitely improve!