FINALLY Master Bar Chords! (Even if you have small hands)

Рет қаралды 8,894

Күн бұрын

In this video, you learn the very best ways to master bar chords on guitar.
The dreaded bar chord can be daunting for many students of this fine instrument.
In this lesson, I sit down with Beginner Guitar Specialist Maurice Richard to discuss and demonstrate the best ways to practice bar chords to finally have them under your fingers and mastered, ready to go in any song you want to play.
When it comes to bar chords, there is the hard way to learn them, often resulting in mass frustration and therefore avoiding them altogether, and there is the much easier, step-by-step process that leads to bar chord mastery.
Join Maurice and me as we discuss and demonstrate the best ways to practice bar chords including:
- The EXACT steps required to play bar chords, and the order in which to do them (this is SO important to getting bar chords down)
- The overuse of tension and how to fix this when playing bar chords (tension is the number one bar chord killer)
- The chord push-up strategy to get all your fingers working at the same time (works like magic!)
Plus a whole lot more!
Learn how to create beautiful sounding chord progressions on guitar with this free ebook/audio download: acousticguitarlessonsonline.n...
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Пікірлер: 41

@norahdesjardine Жыл бұрын

this video is actually so helpful. im 14 and have been avoiding bar chords like the plague for months and this really helped me figure out how to play them comfortably

@acousticguitarlessons Жыл бұрын

That's great to hear Norah! I was exactly your age when I was first trying to play bar chords too and finding them really difficult. I can tell you they get much easier with practice and will happen for you very soon if you follow the strategies and tips in this video. Keep up the great work :)

@AngryJawa0094 Жыл бұрын

Just found this. I’ve been wanting to learn the blue in open E but the dreaded bar chord shows up everywhere. I’ve got tiny hands but I’m gunna work very hard at this! Thanks for the video!!

@acousticguitarlessons Жыл бұрын

You are very welcome! Are you wanting to learn blues in open E tuning, or a blues in E in standard tuning? If the latter, you can use a B7 open chord. Of course, good job working on your bar chords because you don't want to avoid these :)

@brettlorge9063 4 ай бұрын

I've been playing guitar for 5 years and literally just now figured out how to actually relax my arm while playing Barre chords after watching this. THANK YOU both. This was a very helpful video

@acousticguitarlessons 4 ай бұрын

@brettlorge9063, very happy to hear this! You are welcome :)

@oxfords1 7 ай бұрын

There is power in words. I decided to start trying to do the F bar chord and found it impossible. I watched several videos and I just said to myself 'I can't do this, why can't I do this?". I don't have big hands like most of the people I see playing and I thought I was doomed. Then I watched this video and when Maurice said you don't have to press down hard, I went to my guitar and just laid my bar finger on the strings and lo and behold voila, the tension was gone, I got a good sound, I followed with the second finger in it's placement and I was so happy that I knew I would be able to continue until I could do all my fingers where they belong. Thank You

@acousticguitarlessons 7 ай бұрын

@oxfords1, yes, what you tell yourself is extremely powerful! Good for you for realising this. Well done and glad the video has helped you :)

@ToTheRegiment Жыл бұрын

Best teaching I've yet seen for mastering barre chords

@acousticguitarlessons Жыл бұрын

Great the lesson has been useful for you David! :)

@Mandosami Жыл бұрын

Above and beyond all the tips of this video...teach 'Yellow' by Coldplay. Barre B and F# and E chords roots off the E string. Get them to play it with the Barre chord shape but DONT get them to Barre. Instead play ONLY the root note with the index finger and the E shape with the other fingers. This way they get used to playing the shape and create a beautiful sound...when they're ready the can lay down the full Barre. Try and you'll see what I mean. Thank me later!

@acousticguitarlessons Жыл бұрын

Yes, that is a great interim step to playing the full bar chord and as you say can also provide a very cool sound. Thanks for sharing Mandosami :)

@Mandosami Жыл бұрын

@@acousticguitarlessons its also a great way to introduce the worthiness of persisting with Barre chords as a transferable shape. It empowers them to read chord charts and work it out for themselves. Over and out from one guitar tutor who's just talked himself out of a job!

@t9620 Жыл бұрын

This is great! Thanks so much!🙏🎸

@acousticguitarlessons Жыл бұрын

You are very welcome! Glad you liked the lesson :)

@bobeagle8820 Жыл бұрын

Very helpful video 👍🏻

@acousticguitarlessons Жыл бұрын

Great to hear Bob! :)

@peterwake5265 7 ай бұрын

Wow. This really works. I went from agonizing vice-like grip with damped one string to clean-sounding barres in just a few minutes of relaxing and putting my first finger in the right position. Less really is more. Thanks for this great tip that has unblocked my learning progress. Also, I think focusing more on a relaxed grip will help in other ways too.

@acousticguitarlessons 7 ай бұрын

@peterwake5265, so glad the video has helped you with your bar chords! And yes, a relaxed approach will help with all your guitar playing :)

@craigewinger1206 Жыл бұрын

Thank you for a great lesson on bar chords. Although I have played them for many years I don't like them. I would squeeze the neck of the guitar so hard that it was painful. This video really helps. Craig Ewinger

@acousticguitarlessons Жыл бұрын

You are very welcome Craig! Yes, tension is an absolute killer when it comes to bar chords. Fix this, and bar chords become easy :)

@hossamabdulkareem5366 Жыл бұрын

Thank you for the lesson. My question is in regarding the distance of the index finger sticking out from the top of theguitar neck. What is the preferred distance? I tend to stick out the finger outside as it is more comfortable for me. What are your thoughts Simon?

@acousticguitarlessons Жыл бұрын

You are welcome Hossam :) I would only extend the index finger a little past the top of the neck of the guitar. Enough to fret the note on the 6th string and no more basically. Also, the index finger is slightly turned toward the guitar's headstock when barring the strings. So you are connecting with the index finger's side as opposed to the full face of the finger if that makes sense?

@acousticguitarlessons Жыл бұрын

Also, make sure your index finger is right up against the fret when barring. This is the sweet spot for sounding the notes

@dvaunhowe Жыл бұрын

I'm getting the 'E' shape down, but what advice do you have for the 'A' shape? I can use three fingers fairly well up to about barring the 5th fret, but higher than that, I have tried different combinations and placements of two fingers, but I mute one or two strings. Do you have a suggestion as what I should be practicing and exercising towards? I'm concerned that I will either hit a dead end or develop a bad habit. Is skipping some strings a reasonable work around, or will that just lead to weaker playing down the road?

@acousticguitarlessons Жыл бұрын

Hi David. For the A shape bar chord (Root 5 major) I use my 3rd finger to bar across the strings. I don't worry about sounding the top string. If you want more of a range with the chord use the equivalent root 6 major form. So to be clear, my 3rd finger is barring to sound the notes on the 4th, 3rd, and 2nd strings. It will be in contact with the first string too, but this string will be muted out. Hope that helps, but let me know if you need clarification :)

@isaakgenco101 5 ай бұрын

Ive been trying to get barre chords down for years now. Everytime i pick up my guitar I play with them but typically they sound like muffled crap. Ive tried doing as you suggest and lightening my grip, ive tried tightening my grip, ive built muscle memory for them, ive tried every technique people have showed me including rolling my fingers on the side yet i still can't get them down. I absolutely love the guitar and have played on and off my whole life, now going on 23. I keep practicing in hopes to finally figure out what works best for me. My fingers are about as long as the fret board itself on my squire and are pretty chubby figgys i might add. Im fine with simple chords up until we get to harder chords like Gm or F. What could I be doing wrong here?

@acousticguitarlessons 5 ай бұрын

@isaakgenco101, it's hard to say what you might be doing wrong without seeing you play bar chords. It sounds like you have tried many things, and I wonder how long you tried these things. You really need to be doing the right things consistently. Even if you have relatively short fingers you can still play bar chords. Finger length has little to do with it. Follow the things outlined in this video to the letter and do them consistently each day for a month and then get back to me and let me know how you are getting on :)

@JINXV11 Жыл бұрын

Thanks my hands are small dude

@acousticguitarlessons Жыл бұрын

You are welcome underdog :) You may have small hands, but I am yet to meet or teach anyone whose hands were to small to play bar chords over 30 years +. Let me know how you get on with your bar chords :)

@JINXV11 Жыл бұрын

@@acousticguitarlessons still hard but progressing most definitely 🤙

@acousticguitarlessons Жыл бұрын

@@JINXV11 Great to hear! Keep at it :)

@beasleytodd 3 ай бұрын

I’ve been try to play barre chords for 50 years and can’t do it. I know all the caged positions and caged shapes but they all sound terrible. Each finger I put down mutes the adjacent string. I get what is being said about squeezing too hard creating tension but I just tried this light pressure method on an electric with very light action and the light pressure does not work at all. Every note is just a dull thud.

@acousticguitarlessons 3 ай бұрын

@beasleytodd, regarding CAGED positions, only the E and A shapes are practical shapes to use, and maybe the C shape to a certain extent. Perhaps it is not the pressure of your fingers that is the main issue here, but getting your fingers to be on their fingertips when playing the bar chords, except the finger doing the barring. If so, this would suggest you may have your fretting hand in the incorrect position, with the consequence of that being that you can't get your fingers to be on their fingertips. This is why your fingers are muting the adjacent string as you say. I encourage you to follow what is in this video, each day, and if you do, and do things correctly you will see results. You have to be patient though it won't t change overnight. Also, there are probably multiple things that are stopping you from playing the bar chord cleanly, so you need to attack it from different angles as laid out in this video. This video will help too: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/qOBidbCrm66ZcXk.html Let me know how you go :)

@beasleytodd 3 ай бұрын

Thank you!

@acousticguitarlessons 3 ай бұрын

@@beasleytodd you are very welcome :)

@davehumphreys1725 Жыл бұрын

I notice that you are playing an acoustic guitar and NOT a classical guitar which has a much wider neck. A common technique with the acoustic guitars is to wrap the thumb over the neck to play the bass notes, something that is impossible with a classical guitar.

@acousticguitarlessons Жыл бұрын

Hi Dave, Not impossible with a nylon string guitar, but more difficult and yes not suitable for some depending on the size of your hands. Therefore, you would simply bar on a nylon string guitar :)