# New to the site!



## Mindy21 (Aug 24, 2009)

Hi! 
I am new to this site and I'm also fairly new to the guitar. I am still taking lessons. I'm getting better and I'm starting to learn barre chords right now. I am trying to learn the song Breath by Taylor Swift (my teacher wants me to learn this one). One of the chords he is having me play is C# based on the A string. This is a very difficult barre chord for me to learn for some reason... Any tips, advice or whatever on grasping barre chords will be greatly appreciated!! 
thanks!  
Mindy


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## hollowbody (Jan 15, 2008)

Hi Mindy, welcome to the forum!

As for barre chords, I'll give you a generic and useless tip. You just need to pratice them. It hurts and is uncomfortable at first, and is quite difficult to get all the strings to ring out properly, but with time, you'll develop the proper finger strength to let you do it more easily.

What, specifically, is the problem you're having? Is this your first attempt at barre chords, or barre chords on the A-string (which are definitely harder).

A lot of it will be just finding a way to barre that works and is comfortable for you. Not everyone does it exactly the same way.

One thing I find can help is using a finger/hand strengthening doohickey like these guys:









Or even the old school hand-strength device:









The second one isn't as good because it works more on your grip than on individual fingers, but it's still something.


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## BoldAsLove (Jul 31, 2009)

Good time from hollowbody but about the hand strength... I train in olympic weightlifting and let me tell you, the strength did not, and does not carry over. It's a very specific series of motor patterns and it would probably be more fun anyway to just keep playing until you get the hang of things.


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## jimihendrix (Jun 27, 2009)

are you learning on an acoustic guitar...???...they are much harder to play than an electric...

one tip to make barre chords easier to play is to slacken the strings a bit...ask your teacher to tune the guitar down a half step...or even a whole step...

the strings will be looser..but the pressure needed to hold down chords will be lighter and easier...


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## hollowbody (Jan 15, 2008)

BoldAsLove said:


> Good time from hollowbody but about the hand strength... I train in olympic weightlifting and let me tell you, the strength did not, and does not carry over. It's a very specific series of motor patterns and it would probably be more fun anyway to just keep playing until you get the hang of things.


Yes, the case of the second one, there probably won't be many benefits, but the first one is designed specifically for finger strength and not grip. Planet Waves in facts sells that exact line of gizmos specifically as a guitar training aid.


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## puckhead (Sep 8, 2008)

You can probably get away with just slapping down a C# power chord. the trick is to windmill your strumming hand so violently that your teacher can't help but to look there.


9kkhhd
/welcome to the forum


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