I think if you are having trouble with the bar chords it is because you haven't put the time in. 99% of the learning process is yelling bullshit at your fingers because they simply aren't built for this. Embrace the frustration and just keep trying, even if it seems like you are making little or no progress. You are slowly training your muscles and hardening your fingers. A pro won't tell you this because they soldiered straight through bar chords and thought nothing of the challenge. It was just one more thing to conquer. However for the vast majority of people playing guitar as a hobby this hurdle seems much too high and you shy away from it and gravitate towards something else. Do the hard work now. Lose your mind over it and future you will thank you for it. I just played my first bar chord that actually sounded right and I swear to you I thought it was impossible for my fingers to do what I wanted the first time I tried. I just practiced my basic chords so I wouldn't put the guitar down, then went back and tried bars again over and over until strings eventually started to ring out. Thanks RiffNinja!
I just landed on this video after a good search "barre chords impossible", 1 minute into the video, I knew I had finally found the guitar teacher I have been looking for.
Bravo to Teach on addressing technicals! So few do that! Not sure if this will help the new students here, but my classical guitar instructor was insistent that form is everything in guitar work, particularly that which takes strength. It really doesn't matter if you're tackling. classical or punk: it makes a difference. As a singer who just learned to play guitar when I lost my voice for a time... I could not do a barred chord to save my life and didn't have to: I just played open and let my husband/guitarist do that heavy lifting. But I got a little bored with the open crap, so since I study genetics at U of M, I thought I'd take classical guitar as an elective. Best advice ever to newbies like me: "Neck up, wrist forward, fingers relaxed". Teach is very much exemplifying this here. Moving the wrist forward braces the thumb in proper position behind the guitar, better leverages the barre, and promotes the slight turn of the finger he's showing. As for pain... there is some involved in learning guitar, I'm afraid. Nature of the beast. Sore fingers are to be expected, but muscular pain in your fingers means break time for some very scientific reasons: Neural connections get confused when the muscles are tired and shaky, and you're not doing yourself any favors when you try to build muscle memory (don't kid yourself.. that's what practice is all about) under these circumstances. Your brain takes thirty to sixty seconds of repetitive movement to record a basic muscle memory: which is why tapping out your chords on the fretboard as part of your practice routine is immensely helpful (aside from building strength). I'm not a virtuoso: my field is vocals, which I teach. I'm just passing along what my instructor taught me to save me a great deal of boredom and frustration so that I could play more and experiment more....and it opened SO many doors. STOP avoiding barred chords and just work your way through them. Success begins with the determination to try. Period. This is a great vid! Teach is just a little TOO nice methinks. Make good form your discipline and this stuff will fight you far less. :P
I've been working on learning barre chords for well over 6 months now and its just starting to pay off. My suggestion is to find some songs you like that use shifts between barre chords up and down the neck to help build hand strength. Remember, feeling an ache in your hand is okay, but a shooting pain is not good, so be careful.
Another tip, is raising your hand position (and obviously the guitar neck) so it is about the same height as your chin and to your side, this makes it easier to play many chords as it improves the angle at which your fingers contact the strings/neck. ie, the position that classical guitarists adopt when sitting on a guitar stool. That helps me out when I have really tricky chords to play. Mostly though, practice.. eventually you get there. using your thumb to apply pressure at the back of the neck aches at first and is not the best technique to try to learn at first.. however, over the years your thumb becomes super strong and stops aching, however you use it.. let that just happen naturally over time.
I used to play the guitar a while ago but I made the mistake of jumping straight into shredding. Now I have to go back and learn all the chords. Bar chords are giving me a hell of a time, but your video has helped me on my technique. Thanks bro.
Being someone still learning guitar and who recently started to master bar chords and am starting to understand what I was doing wrong in the beginning, I have to say that was very good advice. I was thorough and covered a bunch of issues that a lot of self learners wouldn't think of. Thanks for the great advice!
Speaking as a semi pro and qualified musician, youtube is an absolute fucking minefield for learning. There is a LOT of people who don't know what they're doing putting "tutorials" on youtube, even more than idiots who call themselves teachers being allowed to do it IRL
good stuff, been playing since 1992 and never could play a bar chord and get the high strings to ring out, I was always trying to bar across the middle of the fret, tried the technique shown here and had instant success
your videos have helped my banjo playing technique much more than the banjo videos out there. I have played saxophone for 40+ years, and am now stretching my brain by learning the blues banjo (yes, it is a thing). Thank you for your easy going style and straight forward videos.
9 ปีที่แล้ว +26
wow couldnt believe the most important part that i was missing was actually centering my thumb on the back of the guitar neck. Adds much more strength when pressing the strings down. Thanks!
Oh my god, I've watched several videos and they didn't tell me where to put my thumb. The thumb goes about a full-fret BELOW where the bar is and your bar finger needs to hug the fret. I did this and immediately I could do a clear bar chord. It's still difficult, but I couldn't get it to work at ALL without proper thumb placement.
Just one point -- you should learn bar chords and this vid (and others on TH-cam) has some very good tips. But if you can't get it, don't let it discourage you or prevent you from playing. Depending on the style, you may never or very rarely ever have to use a bar chord. There are lots of substitute chords. And in some styles, e.g. blues fingerpicking, it's usually better not to use a bar. For example, you can play an F chord with your index finger on E & B strings (1st fret), middle finger G string 2d fret, ring finger on D string 3d fret, don't use A string (or use little finger on A), and wrap you thumb around the neck to get the bass F note on the low E string. This is sometimes preferable because you can move your fingers to reach notes, e.g., play G string open then hammer on to second fret, etc. Thus, you can play a melody.
Hi I have just started to play the guitar about 7 months ago. I am 54 years old. I can read music as my parents made me play the piano. So when I started to play the guitar teaching myself from books and the internet, youtube and the like. I like to sit and play and it never felt comfortable to have the guitar on my right knee, I only feel at home with the guitar on my left leg and a small house brick size foot stool under my left foot. Is this going to cause me all sorts of problems as I learn more and grow with my guitar? I think I messed up and now I cannot fix it. I probably did it that way to start with as I have a neck and shoulder injury which hurt when I said and held the guitar on my right leg like everyone else. I would appreciate your comments as I know you are probably the best and most level headed guitar teacher on the net. Cheers, Mikel - NSW Australia
+Alan randomrockeater I may not be the maker of the video, but I learned to play guitar from a class my high school offered and know a little bit about correct guitar playing posture. If I am understanding your posture correctly, that is the most "correct" way to play guitar. Our instructor made us hold the guitar like that so we learned to play with proper posture before moving the guitar to our right knee. I may be wrong, but search "classical positioning guitar" in google, if that is how you are playing the guitar then I am correct and you are more than okay. I hope this helps :)
Hi thanks for that guys I really appreciate your replies, I love your videos. I can see by some of the classical and flamenco guitar players that I am not doing to bad which is really cool as I thought I had done something that I perhaps couldn't undo, quickly anyway and yes I have to work around my injury but I love playing the guitar and play for hours each day it keeps my mind active and I am not concentrating on the pain, I am concentrating on what I am playing. Thanks again, Mikel (Australia)
+Alan randomrockeater I have found that if you will just get most of your fretting hand underneath the high E edge of the fretboard, you will then have the leverage to sufficiently press down to catch all the strings. Maybe this is why beginners are told to put their hands and forearms into what originally feels like such awkward position to play (also helps prevent the strings from rolling out from underneath the fingertips, as they will then be pressing straight down upon the strings). It will also help prevent the FINGERTIPS from rolling off the TOP of the strings. Also (here is a Marty Schwartz tip), get off your ass when practicing, especially when you know you'll be attempting barre chords. This will give you even more leverage, naturally position the guitar against your torso, and allow you to actually press the back of the guitar to your body, making the fretboard even more steady for achieving the barre chord. Also, strum the strings numerous times until there are no buzzing or muted strings, then note how it feels to your fingers to achieve the effective position. I've done all this and was amazed at how easy I was able to achieve the chords.
By far the most helpful video yet on bar chords fundamentals I have watched. Every other training I have seen has said to place the thumb low of the neck profile, right behind the barred finger...but I see now how this just limits the easeful placement of the other fingers, and incorrectly centres the pressure on the 'pads'. It makes so much sense to keep the thumb centred to the hand, which naturally rolls the index outwards to create correct side pressure! Thank you so much for this video! 9 years old but timelessly relevant. Just made my day that much better.
Thank you!! This helped me immensely! My issue wasn't with my thumb but with my index. I was pressing flat against the strings instead of a higher, more rounded position. Feels so good hearing all the strings ring out.
Absolute legend, been trying to play with the front of my finger and all i got was damped strings, rolled onto the edge and now it sounds clean 10/10 getting my mates to check this out!!!!!
I remember when I 1st started out on guitar. Playing a bar chord seemed like an impossibility. Then it finally came.... Best advice is to stay with it! Perseverance will win!
@@dragonlord1225 You just keep trying to play the chord, slowly at first, and focus on getting all the strings down so that strings that aren't supposed to be muted aren't muted. That takes the longest time... Start with the G bar chord with the root at the third fret. It's hard to stay with it, but if you do, you'll get it. Once you can do that, start trying to integrate the chord into songs. If you know an open chord G-C-D chord progression, swap the open G for the bar chord G. Play that enough times until it becomes seamless where you can swap open G for bar chord G with ease.
@JaleelJohanson62 You replied to a 6 yr old comment after 20 min?Legend. Thank you for your answer. I am just starting out to play guitar. Do you have any advice on what to focus on learning first or in general?
@@dragonlord1225 If you can get some lessons, do that. It'll make learning the basics better and should prevent you from picking up any bad habits. The hardest thing about staying with guitar is the amount of time it takes to be good enough to really enjoy listening to what you play for yourself. Stay with it and that WILL come.
Thank you. I am slowly developing hand/finger strength. No one has mentioned neck size to me, I am now going to check out some other guitars, see if another guitar would solve my problem.
Thank you for your time. I am still doing the "half bar" on the F, now will practice your technique. I was using the flat part of my index finger. Your way is much easier!
Thanks a lot for the video! I've realized my problem all along was my thumb position. Before I had it stretched out to the left, which caused my index finger to cover the strings diagonally and give me some muted strings. Simply by moving my thumb towards the center, I can finally play a fully clear bar chord. Thanks again!
God bless you. I cannot thank you enough. I have had so much problems with bar chords and so much thumb pain... your overview of technique helped me so much... thank you so so much
I bought my guitar because it looked nice and was cheap... Very cheap. I have been practicing for a while now and getting pretty good in Open E tuning. After watching this video, I believe that the high action on this guitar is why playing bar chords is so difficult. I have tried many techniques but of no avail. Thanks for the info at the beginning of the video. I am going guitar shopping the right way!
Seriously, thank you for the quick and insightful way to play a barre. I have been struggling with this FOREVER and within about 2 mins of watching your video I was playing them for the first time. :D
Thank You So Much!!! I have very small hands and short nubby fingers, now I know I need a new guitar with the narrowest neck at the top I can find, you are one of the very few I can actually understand when you try to TEACH us something, THANK YOU AGAIN, and GOD BLESS YOU!!!
Thank's for your reply mate... the thing is when I first got my guitar the very first thing I done was learned a full complex song straight away before looking at beginner's stuff & posture plus hand position. Turn's out because I had bad posture & hand positioning & kept playing non stop hurting till I got it... it's the start of carpel tunnel syndrome & trigger finger they gave me ibuprofen cream to rub in to it & told me to play less till it's better but it's not working
Been learning for a month one thing I’ve learned...when I’m having trouble with a note or barre I just keep trying and trying...usually the next day I practice I don’t have as much trouble playing it...the A chord use to give me hell but now it’s pretty easy...barre chords hurt they cramp my whole hand even when I can hit the note just don’t give up
I play E shape barres by fretting the low E string with the end of the barre finger. The two high strings can be fretted by moving your elbow back (your shoulder comes up slightly). This creates a rocking pivot that puts pressure on the high strings without much pinching. Pinching all 6 strings (for that chord shape) is unnecessary and very tiring. If you learn this technique, you can play those type shapes (also the 5 string minor) clean and all day long.
Thank you so much man. The "roll your finger" tip actually helped me get a strong F down. I was flat fingering it and my "underknuckle" of my finger was making it hard to get low E and or B & high E together---was always one or the other.
Hey! I have always had a hard time with bar chords. I recently switched to a guitar with a lower action and an easier feel for a beginner guitarist. However, I found your tip regarding finger placement to be really insightful and helpful. I have always tried bar chords by placing my finger in the middle of the fret. Rolling towards the front of the fret against the fret itself makes a lot more sense. Thank you!
for 5 years ive tried barring off and on, never get more then buzz.... so ive always avoided it, ive even transposed and capo'd songs to avoid it... decided enough is enough, time to learn, going to start here.
I have found that if you will just get most of your fretting hand underneath the high E edge of the fretboard, you will then have the leverage to sufficiently press down to catch all the strings. Also (here is a Marty Schwartz tip), get off your ass when practicing, especially when you know you'll be attempting barre chords. This will give you even more leverage, naturally position the guitar against your torso, and allow you to actually press the back of the guitar to your body, making the fretboard even more steady for achieving the barre chord. Also, strum the strings numerous times until there are no buzzing or muted strings, then note how it feels to your fingers to achieve the effective position. I've done all this and was amazed at how easy I was able to achieve the chords.
just a little tip that helped me get into barre chords if your strings are to high it will be difficult to bar the top end of your guitar! use a capo on the top fret so you can practice with the strings closer to the fret bars! it really does help you practice with more ease and a less achey hand! also use your index finger muscle to bar NOT your thumb pressing your thumb to hard on the back of the guitar neck will cause a lot of ache! :P
(1) tip use the side of your finger because there is know dents there, (2) tip pull the guitar towards your body, barreing the cords is not about finger strength its about arm strength. (3) try just barre the first and second string the gradually make you way up to the 6th string hope i could help
Thanks for such a useful video. I have put my index finger before the fret rather than right on it, so I couldn't get it sounding right. I felt like my finger is not fit for barring :). Now I can get the sound, but need working on strength.
my problem is that no matter where I move my hand, there's at least one string lining up with a joint and there just isn't enough finger there to push down the string 😭
I am trying to play a tab that requires a bar chord on the first fret and fingers on the D string 3rd fret and G string 2nd fret. Guitar neck is over 2" and I needed to hear that instrument matching is important as my hands are too small to effectively hold that bar chord on its own, let alone hold two extra points.
Nice lesson. Thanks. Great info presented clearly and concisely. Nice sound on the guitar. I couldn't make out the type. What model is that? Hegstrom Viking?
I can't seem to press down hard enough with just my finger even with this.. If I press down with all my strength I can get an even sound but it hurts much and my hand shakes from the strain... Is there a solution to this?
Kevin ZX That would only work if you are only playing minor barre chords rooted on the low E string. In other words don't do that, at least not for the purpose of extra strength. Rebeca - I would recommend trying to roll your finger like the video says. I have had students tell me just what you said and I always told them it was partly strength but mostly comfort. So just keep trying it and move your index finger around to see if you can find a position that feels easier.
Practice makes perfect. It hurts at the beginning but your finger will get used to it. Keep trying. If it hurts, stop, give it a rest, don't be afraid to try again!
Good video. Only thing that missing was a bit of advice to practice, practice, practice. I've been learning Evanescence's My Immortal. It's taken me nearly a month to learn because the song has 1 barre chord, C#m. Figured it was as good a time as any to practice the darn things. It's taken me a while to improve my technique but now I can transition in and out of the C#m as easily as an Em. (Well, not quite, but I'm getting there). Point is, use the technique in this video and practice it until it becomes second nature. It takes a while but once you've mastered one barre chord the rest are just as easy. Even B becomes less of a chore to play.
thanks a lot man, im self taught and ive been playing for about 2 years and could never play the bar chords until i figured out that its the side and not the flat part of the finger
hey aviad if thats ur name the tip i have is use the side of your finger to hold down the strings because when you hold them down with your finger flat on the neck u will realise that every1 has tiny dents in there fingers in the middle section, but on the side we dont, you probs already know this dont go cussing me im only 13 its just a tip i use and can hold most barre cords, i have only been playing 1yr now so yh try it if you dont know, mabye this can be helpful
i can play lead guitar pretty decent after about 6months now, I already learnt how to read sheet music so that helped alot. But one thing i absolutely can not do is switch chords makes me want to rage smash the thing
I think if you are having trouble with the bar chords it is because you haven't put the time in. 99% of the learning process is yelling bullshit at your fingers because they simply aren't built for this. Embrace the frustration and just keep trying, even if it seems like you are making little or no progress. You are slowly training your muscles and hardening your fingers. A pro won't tell you this because they soldiered straight through bar chords and thought nothing of the challenge. It was just one more thing to conquer. However for the vast majority of people playing guitar as a hobby this hurdle seems much too high and you shy away from it and gravitate towards something else. Do the hard work now. Lose your mind over it and future you will thank you for it. I just played my first bar chord that actually sounded right and I swear to you I thought it was impossible for my fingers to do what I wanted the first time I tried. I just practiced my basic chords so I wouldn't put the guitar down, then went back and tried bars again over and over until strings eventually started to ring out. Thanks RiffNinja!
Good comment to read, thanks for posting this
It's been five minutes. I've punched alot of shit. My knuckles are on fire. I am in a fucking rage.
write a song about it LOL! The Knuckle Fuckle song
I think my fingers are too small
I actually felt good reading this comment, thanks mate.
bar chord = finger breaker
Yeah same problem
is your action more than 2.8 mm?
Thumb breaker!
Hand and wrist breaker for me lol.
you are the highest person iv'e ever seen, right on man.
chase wills I guess you've never heard of Tommy Chong
This guy looks like he just came back from a pirate convention
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHA
Daniyal Khan this comment made my day
Despite your oh-so considered opinion / surface observation Colin is a good teacher who gets right to the point.
humor has some place,,,let go...and i admit he is a great teacher! cheers!
Rob Jay take a damn joke
The first youtube guitar teacher that stands up and walks up to you
VR is here
😆
Legit the only video ive seen that does this. Amazing
man hes a good teacher but hes totally super blazed in this video
Well, if you remember the 1980s then you WEREN'T THERE !!!!
@@rayjr62 what does that even mean?
@@average32potato that experiencing the 80's only counted if you were so high / so often that you don't remember it
@@merleynboonstoppel6834 thanks bro, that's pretty funny now that you explained it
@@rayjr62 but it’s not the 1980s
this dude high
dfghjk,mn jhgfgh, omg! before I even started reading comments I thought that,lolololol
...is that supposed to be funny?
Yummygummy 10 yeah
@@okaydom3776 yeah
Yummygummy 10 yeah
I just landed on this video after a good search "barre chords impossible", 1 minute into the video, I knew I had finally found the guitar teacher I have been looking for.
Bravo to Teach on addressing technicals! So few do that!
Not sure if this will help the new students here, but my classical guitar instructor was insistent that form is everything in guitar work, particularly that which takes strength. It really doesn't matter if you're tackling. classical or punk: it makes a difference. As a singer who just learned to play guitar when I lost my voice for a time... I could not do a barred chord to save my life and didn't have to: I just played open and let my husband/guitarist do that heavy lifting. But I got a little bored with the open crap, so since I study genetics at U of M, I thought I'd take classical guitar as an elective. Best advice ever to newbies like me: "Neck up, wrist forward, fingers relaxed". Teach is very much exemplifying this here. Moving the wrist forward braces the thumb in proper position behind the guitar, better leverages the barre, and promotes the slight turn of the finger he's showing. As for pain... there is some involved in learning guitar, I'm afraid. Nature of the beast. Sore fingers are to be expected, but muscular pain in your fingers means break time for some very scientific reasons: Neural connections get confused when the muscles are tired and shaky, and you're not doing yourself any favors when you try to build muscle memory (don't kid yourself.. that's what practice is all about) under these circumstances. Your brain takes thirty to sixty seconds of repetitive movement to record a basic muscle memory: which is why tapping out your chords on the fretboard as part of your practice routine is immensely helpful (aside from building strength). I'm not a virtuoso: my field is vocals, which I teach. I'm just passing along what my instructor taught me to save me a great deal of boredom and frustration so that I could play more and experiment more....and it opened SO many doors. STOP avoiding barred chords and just work your way through them. Success begins with the determination to try. Period. This is a great vid! Teach is just a little TOO nice methinks. Make good form your discipline and this stuff will fight you far less. :P
I've been working on learning barre chords for well over 6 months now and its just starting to pay off. My suggestion is to find some songs you like that use shifts between barre chords up and down the neck to help build hand strength. Remember, feeling an ache in your hand is okay, but a shooting pain is not good, so be careful.
Another tip, is raising your hand position (and obviously the guitar neck) so it is about the same height as your chin and to your side, this makes it easier to play many chords as it improves the angle at which your fingers contact the strings/neck.
ie, the position that classical guitarists adopt when sitting on a guitar stool.
That helps me out when I have really tricky chords to play.
Mostly though, practice.. eventually you get there.
using your thumb to apply pressure at the back of the neck aches at first and is not the best technique to try to learn at first.. however, over the years your thumb becomes super strong and stops aching, however you use it.. let that just happen naturally over time.
I used to play the guitar a while ago but I made the mistake of jumping straight into shredding. Now I have to go back and learn all the chords. Bar chords are giving me a hell of a time, but your video has helped me on my technique. Thanks bro.
Lol!Lmao you cracked me up
3:05 I laughed way to hard at that XD
Likeitornot I
The pirate said OYY BASTARD!!!
😅
Thank you so much for this video! you have no idea of how many people you're helping, keep the hard work! You deserve all the success with your work!!
Being someone still learning guitar and who recently started to master bar chords and am starting to understand what I was doing wrong in the beginning, I have to say that was very good advice. I was thorough and covered a bunch of issues that a lot of self learners wouldn't think of. Thanks for the great advice!
wow that thumb positioning solved all my problems... and i've been paying a guitar "teacher" money for a whole year now -.-
Yeah i took lessons for about 2 months and realised all i needed to know i could find on the internet.
Speaking as a semi pro and qualified musician, youtube is an absolute fucking minefield for learning. There is a LOT of people who don't know what they're doing putting "tutorials" on youtube, even more than idiots who call themselves teachers being allowed to do it IRL
Agreed the thumb position really helps keeping the index finger rolled over on it's edge. Now just got to erase years of bad habit.
I've been told to ditch that thumb position because it causes me thumb pain on Barre chords but I can't play any other way
I could not do a barre chord to save my life before watching this video. A couple tries after watching this and now I got it. Thanks!
good stuff, been playing since 1992 and never could play a bar chord and get the high strings to ring out, I was always trying to bar across the middle of the fret, tried the technique shown here and had instant success
your videos have helped my banjo playing technique much more than the banjo videos out there. I have played saxophone for 40+ years, and am now stretching my brain by learning the blues banjo (yes, it is a thing). Thank you for your easy going style and straight forward videos.
wow couldnt believe the most important part that i was missing was actually centering my thumb on the back of the guitar neck. Adds much more strength when pressing the strings down. Thanks!
yes and it also causes pain for me everyone tells me to put the thumb more up top "anchoring" but I can't do it
Oh my god, I've watched several videos and they didn't tell me where to put my thumb. The thumb goes about a full-fret BELOW where the bar is and your bar finger needs to hug the fret. I did this and immediately I could do a clear bar chord. It's still difficult, but I couldn't get it to work at ALL without proper thumb placement.
Just one point -- you should learn bar chords and this vid (and others on TH-cam) has some very good tips. But if you can't get it, don't let it discourage you or prevent you from playing. Depending on the style, you may never or very rarely ever have to use a bar chord. There are lots of substitute chords. And in some styles, e.g. blues fingerpicking, it's usually better not to use a bar. For example, you can play an F chord with your index finger on E & B strings (1st fret), middle finger G string 2d fret, ring finger on D string 3d fret, don't use A string (or use little finger on A), and wrap you thumb around the neck to get the bass F note on the low E string. This is sometimes preferable because you can move your fingers to reach notes, e.g., play G string open then hammer on to second fret, etc. Thus, you can play a melody.
Hi I have just started to play the guitar about 7 months ago. I am 54 years old. I can read music as my parents made me play the piano. So when I started to play the guitar teaching myself from books and the internet, youtube and the like. I like to sit and play and it never felt comfortable to have the guitar on my right knee, I only feel at home with the guitar on my left leg and a small house brick size foot stool under my left foot. Is this going to cause me all sorts of problems as I learn more and grow with my guitar? I think I messed up and now I cannot fix it. I probably did it that way to start with as I have a neck and shoulder injury which hurt when I said and held the guitar on my right leg like everyone else. I would appreciate your comments as I know you are probably the best and most level headed guitar teacher on the net. Cheers, Mikel - NSW Australia
+Alan randomrockeater I may not be the maker of the video, but I learned to play guitar from a class my high school offered and know a little bit about correct guitar playing posture. If I am understanding your posture correctly, that is the most "correct" way to play guitar. Our instructor made us hold the guitar like that so we learned to play with proper posture before moving the guitar to our right knee. I may be wrong, but search "classical positioning guitar" in google, if that is how you are playing the guitar then I am correct and you are more than okay. I hope this helps :)
Hi thanks for that guys I really appreciate your replies, I love your videos. I can see by some of the classical and flamenco guitar players that I am not doing to bad which is really cool as I thought I had done something that I perhaps couldn't undo, quickly anyway and yes I have to work around my injury but I love playing the guitar and play for hours each day it keeps my mind active and I am not concentrating on the pain, I am concentrating on what I am playing. Thanks again, Mikel (Australia)
No. That's actually the traditional classical style.
+Alan randomrockeater I have found that if you will just get most of your fretting hand underneath the high E edge of the fretboard, you will then have the leverage to sufficiently press down to catch all the strings. Maybe this is why beginners are told to put their hands and forearms into what originally feels like such awkward position to play (also helps prevent the strings from rolling out from underneath the fingertips, as they will then be pressing straight down upon the strings). It will also help prevent the FINGERTIPS from rolling off the TOP of the strings. Also (here is a Marty Schwartz tip), get off your ass when practicing, especially when you know you'll be attempting barre chords. This will give you even more leverage, naturally position the guitar against your torso, and allow you to actually press the back of the guitar to your body, making the fretboard even more steady for achieving the barre chord. Also, strum the strings numerous times until there are no buzzing or muted strings, then note how it feels to your fingers to achieve the effective position. I've done all this and was amazed at how easy I was able to achieve the chords.
Thanks everyone for all of your help, Michael H Australia
By far the most helpful video yet on bar chords fundamentals I have watched. Every other training I have seen has said to place the thumb low of the neck profile, right behind the barred finger...but I see now how this just limits the easeful placement of the other fingers, and incorrectly centres the pressure on the 'pads'. It makes so much sense to keep the thumb centred to the hand, which naturally rolls the index outwards to create correct side pressure! Thank you so much for this video! 9 years old but timelessly relevant. Just made my day that much better.
thank you! I think I need a different guitar as I have been playing for years and can barely get the bm lol
I totally understand 🙁
Thank you!! This helped me immensely! My issue wasn't with my thumb but with my index. I was pressing flat against the strings instead of a higher, more rounded position. Feels so good hearing all the strings ring out.
Absolute legend, been trying to play with the front of my finger and all i got was damped strings, rolled onto the edge and now it sounds clean 10/10 getting my mates to check this out!!!!!
I remember when I 1st started out on guitar. Playing a bar chord seemed like an impossibility. Then it finally came.... Best advice is to stay with it! Perseverance will win!
But how do you practice it?
@@dragonlord1225 You just keep trying to play the chord, slowly at first, and focus on getting all the strings down so that strings that aren't supposed to be muted aren't muted. That takes the longest time... Start with the G bar chord with the root at the third fret. It's hard to stay with it, but if you do, you'll get it. Once you can do that, start trying to integrate the chord into songs. If you know an open chord G-C-D chord progression, swap the open G for the bar chord G. Play that enough times until it becomes seamless where you can swap open G for bar chord G with ease.
@JaleelJohanson62 You replied to a 6 yr old comment after 20 min?Legend. Thank you for your answer. I am just starting out to play guitar. Do you have any advice on what to focus on learning first or in general?
@@dragonlord1225 If you can get some lessons, do that. It'll make learning the basics better and should prevent you from picking up any bad habits. The hardest thing about staying with guitar is the amount of time it takes to be good enough to really enjoy listening to what you play for yourself. Stay with it and that WILL come.
Thank you. I am slowly developing hand/finger strength. No one has mentioned neck size to me, I am now going to check out some other guitars, see if another guitar would solve my problem.
You and guitar jamz are the best teachers on TH-cam in my opinion, keep on rocking on!
Thank you for your time. I am still doing the "half bar" on the F,
now will practice your technique.
I was using the flat part of my index finger. Your way is much easier!
bro this tutorial is so underrated - i just positioned my thumb the way he did in the video and it works like fricking magic omfg
Thanks a lot for the video! I've realized my problem all along was my thumb position. Before I had it stretched out to the left, which caused my index finger to cover the strings diagonally and give me some muted strings. Simply by moving my thumb towards the center, I can finally play a fully clear bar chord. Thanks again!
This guy is awesome.
God bless you. I cannot thank you enough. I have had so much problems with bar chords and so much thumb pain... your overview of technique helped me so much... thank you so so much
You sir are a genuis thank you so much. Putting the thumb more centered and straight helped almost immediately. Thank so so much
I bought my guitar because it looked nice and was cheap... Very cheap. I have been practicing for a while now and getting pretty good in Open E tuning. After watching this video, I believe that the high action on this guitar is why playing bar chords is so difficult. I have tried many techniques but of no avail. Thanks for the info at the beginning of the video. I am going guitar shopping the right way!
Seriously, thank you for the quick and insightful way to play a barre. I have been struggling with this FOREVER and within about 2 mins of watching your video I was playing them for the first time. :D
As soon as I tried it with the thumb position part, IT WORKED!!
Thank You So Much!!! I have very small hands and short nubby fingers, now I know I need a new guitar with the narrowest neck at the top I can find, you are one of the very few I can actually understand when you try to TEACH us something, THANK YOU AGAIN, and GOD BLESS YOU!!!
Thank's for your reply mate... the thing is when I first got my guitar the very first thing I done was learned a full complex song straight away before looking at beginner's stuff & posture plus hand position.
Turn's out because I had bad posture & hand positioning & kept playing non stop hurting till I got it... it's the start of carpel tunnel syndrome & trigger finger they gave me ibuprofen cream to rub in to it & told me to play less till it's better but it's not working
Wow 9 years later and this was such a great find! Thanks for the tips!
Been learning for a month one thing I’ve learned...when I’m having trouble with a note or barre I just keep trying and trying...usually the next day I practice I don’t have as much trouble playing it...the A chord use to give me hell but now it’s pretty easy...barre chords hurt they cramp my whole hand even when I can hit the note just don’t give up
Thank you so much! Technique was killin me!
Good to see Woody Harrelson is staying busy.
+Jason Taylor that gave me an unexpected lol
I play E shape barres by fretting the low E string with the end of the barre finger. The two high strings can be fretted by moving your elbow back (your shoulder comes up slightly). This creates a rocking pivot that puts pressure on the high strings without much pinching. Pinching all 6 strings (for that chord shape) is unnecessary and very tiring. If you learn this technique, you can play those type shapes (also the 5 string minor) clean and all day long.
Thank you so much!!!! I can finally play a power chord! I had actually almost given up! Even with paying for guitar lessons!!! You're a blessing!
Ahhhh, i just used the front of my finger for barres this whole time, thanks for the advice really worked👍
That finger twisting just solved my problem, thank you so much sir!
3:04 HI! :D
Thank you so much man. The "roll your finger" tip actually helped me get a strong F down. I was flat fingering it and my "underknuckle" of my finger was making it hard to get low E and or B & high E together---was always one or the other.
3:50, Dat nail though.... xD ik u use it for finger picking but damn lmao...
Hey! I have always had a hard time with bar chords. I recently switched to a guitar with a lower action and an easier feel for a beginner guitarist. However, I found your tip regarding finger placement to be really insightful and helpful. I have always tried bar chords by placing my finger in the middle of the fret. Rolling towards the front of the fret against the fret itself makes a lot more sense. Thank you!
for 5 years ive tried barring off and on, never get more then buzz....
so ive always avoided it, ive even transposed and capo'd songs to avoid it...
decided enough is enough, time to learn, going to start here.
Still helping people out in 2018! Thank you so much!
Thank you. Good advice. I've been playing for years and it's been a problem. Thanks
I have found that if you will just get most of your fretting hand underneath the high E edge of the fretboard, you will then have the leverage to sufficiently press down to catch all the strings. Also (here is a Marty Schwartz tip), get off your ass when practicing, especially when you know you'll be attempting barre chords. This will give you even more leverage, naturally position the guitar against your torso, and allow you to actually press the back of the guitar to your body, making the fretboard even more steady for achieving the barre chord. Also, strum the strings numerous times until there are no buzzing or muted strings, then note how it feels to your fingers to achieve the effective position. I've done all this and was amazed at how easy I was able to achieve the chords.
just a little tip that helped me get into barre chords if your strings are to high it will be difficult to bar the top end of your guitar! use a capo on the top fret so you can practice with the strings closer to the fret bars! it really does help you practice with more ease and a less achey hand! also use your index finger muscle to bar NOT your thumb pressing your thumb to hard on the back of the guitar neck will cause a lot of ache! :P
(1) tip use the side of your finger because there is know dents there, (2) tip pull the guitar towards your body, barreing the cords is not about finger strength its about arm strength. (3) try just barre the first and second string the gradually make you way up to the 6th string hope i could help
Thank you ! Finally a video were it's explained how you put your bar finger!
Thank you very much. After watching your video i picked up my guitar and got it right away... Edge of the finger seems so obvious now
help me out a lot bcs I've been struggle to play a bar chord since I first started play guitar. thanks a lot!
not rolling my finger and killing my high E was totally my issue!!! thanks bro. killer video!
one of the reasons i stopped playing guitar as often was for that reason, i wish i had seen this video before. Thank you!
Now THAT's how you explain it. Great job! Thank you!
great video thanks for the tips helped a lot still having trouble cause action isn't set but it's getting much easier.
Thanks for such a useful video. I have put my index finger before the fret rather than right on it, so I couldn't get it sounding right. I felt like my finger is not fit for barring :). Now I can get the sound, but need working on strength.
3 fucking years and I still can’t get this shit down
my problem is that no matter where I move my hand, there's at least one string lining up with a joint and there just isn't enough finger there to push down the string 😭
I am trying to play a tab that requires a bar chord on the first fret and fingers on the D string 3rd fret and G string 2nd fret.
Guitar neck is over 2" and I needed to hear that instrument matching is important as my hands are too small to effectively hold that bar chord on its own, let alone hold two extra points.
Nice lesson. Thanks. Great info presented clearly and concisely. Nice sound on the guitar. I couldn't make out the type. What model is that? Hegstrom Viking?
pure guitar wisdom, thank you riff ninja!!!!
I can't seem to press down hard enough with just my finger even with this.. If I press down with all my strength I can get an even sound but it hurts much and my hand shakes from the strain... Is there a solution to this?
Place your Middle finger on top of your index finger for extra strength
Kevin ZX That would only work if you are only playing minor barre chords rooted on the low E string. In other words don't do that, at least not for the purpose of extra strength.
Rebeca - I would recommend trying to roll your finger like the video says. I have had students tell me just what you said and I always told them it was partly strength but mostly comfort. So just keep trying it and move your index finger around to see if you can find a position that feels easier.
Thanks! I'll give it a try
Practice makes perfect. It hurts at the beginning but your finger will get used to it. Keep trying. If it hurts, stop, give it a rest, don't be afraid to try again!
Rebeca Donovan keep practicing, your hand will get stronger
Good video. Only thing that missing was a bit of advice to practice, practice, practice. I've been learning Evanescence's My Immortal. It's taken me nearly a month to learn because the song has 1 barre chord, C#m. Figured it was as good a time as any to practice the darn things.
It's taken me a while to improve my technique but now I can transition in and out of the C#m as easily as an Em. (Well, not quite, but I'm getting there). Point is, use the technique in this video and practice it until it becomes second nature. It takes a while but once you've mastered one barre chord the rest are just as easy. Even B becomes less of a chore to play.
Evanescence? Hahahahaha
Thank you so much. My guitar has high action which makes it difficult to barre chords..
great video, got me over the hump on these. I was trying to play with the fat part of my finger and getting a flat B every time
thanks for that hand technique,it is really helpful!
Does it have to do with me trying on an acoustic instead of acoustic?
thanks a lot man, im self taught and ive been playing for about 2 years and could never play the bar chords until i figured out that its the side and not the flat part of the finger
u did a lesson using the progresson of f g a bar chords with a little lead cant seem to find it cheers fred
Centering the thumb and rolling the finger on the side really helped
Excellent teacher & analysis!
hey aviad if thats ur name the tip i have is use the side of your finger to hold down the strings because when you hold them down with your finger flat on the neck u will realise that every1 has tiny dents in there fingers in the middle section, but on the side we dont, you probs already know this dont go cussing me im only 13 its just a tip i use and can hold most barre cords, i have only been playing 1yr now so yh try it if you dont know, mabye this can be helpful
Also make sure your thumb is level on back of neck like its pointing to the sky and not to high at back its just level with the edge of neck
3:05 was hilarious :-))
heartjump22 hui😂😂😂
His voice relaxes me.
Thank you so much! I finally got it ringing out!!!
I will probably never be able to play a bar chord. At least not on acoustic guitar. My hands are too small and weak to hold it😢
Thank you very much about the finger position, that I need to turn my finger a bit.
i usually never comment on videos, but THIS WAS IT!! DAAAAMMNNNN THANKS!! its was the thumb positioning. subscribed and liked . cheers m8.
Thank you I struggled with that for a while
Awesome man! I can finally play bar chords right! Thank you so much.
Vasu Maru salty?
dude that so helped Ive always sucked at hitting bar cords dude you rock man Thanks for the vid
Never had a guitar teacher tell me this before. Thanks.
superb advice...the best i have seen on this subject..cheers
i can play lead guitar pretty decent after about 6months now, I already learnt how to read sheet music so that helped alot. But one thing i absolutely can not do is switch chords
makes me want to rage smash the thing
this is so helpful thank you so much for uploading!!!
The lesson helped me. Thanks.
Thank you sir. Well explained.
GOSHHH thanks man!!! i've been struggling but after watching this i tried once and did it!!