# Barre Chord Trouble



## neither-Either (Feb 5, 2008)

Hey, I've been playing for a short time ( about 4-5 months) and i've done lots of scales and such and im starting to learn Say it aint so by Weezer. I have the tabs and all but the trouble is I cant properly Fret the barre chords:S each time I try it the b sting buzzes or is muffled. I know alot of it has to do with finger strength and time , but i want to know the proper way of doing it( like tumb placement and such. 
Any help is appreciated


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## Lester B. Flat (Feb 21, 2006)

There is more than one barre shape and more than one way to play each. Which one is giving you trouble? E shape? A shape?


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## zontar (Oct 25, 2007)

I'm thinking the question may be partly based on lefthand technique, as much as which chord form is used.
The best way to learn to do barre chords is to do them. But also to pay attention to how you're doing them.

Barre chords are easier to do if your thumb is opposite your first finger on the back of the neck, and the top of the thumb is pointing up, not slanted.
Press with your thumb as well--that way you're sharing the pressure between your thumb & finger, and it's easier on the finger. This helps you to do left hand muting as well. You should also use a bit of the outside of the finger as well to bar the strings. How much of this you do will depend on your finger size & shape, as well as flexibility.

If there's a guitar with a smaller neck you can try this on--try that first & work on the technique, then work on the strength.

And keep at it--it will come.


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## violation (Aug 20, 2006)

neither-Either said:


> Hey, I've been playing for a short time ( about 4-5 months) and i've done lots of scales and such and im starting to learn Say it aint so by Weezer. I have the tabs and all but the trouble is I cant properly Fret the barre chords:S each time I try it the b sting buzzes or is muffled. I know alot of it has to do with finger strength and time , but i want to know the proper way of doing it( like tumb placement and such.
> Any help is appreciated


Give us an example of a chord you're struggling with.

Like if you're barring your index finger and the note on the B string that is being muffled is part of that index barre apply more pressure until you hear it nice and clear.

If the note on the B string is being played with another figure simply finger the chord and play each note seperate and see why that note is being muffled. It could be happening because another finger in the chord is accidently muting it, your finger could be too close or on top of part of the fretwire, it could need more pressure, etc. 

It's all about evaluting your technique until you find what's causing the problem.


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## suttree (Aug 17, 2007)

say it aint so, is i believe C#m G#m A(bar at V), open E.

the hardest chord to play here is the G#m. you're just going to have to be patient until the muscles build in your hands. the best way to get barre chords in my experience is to start with the simple partial barre chords (you'll have seen the F chord by now, where you mute the two lowest strings, and barre the high E and B? that's the place to start), and once those are easy, you'll be ready to move to full barres. one other thing to mention is that the chords are hardest at the firts few frets, so when you're practicing, try it at the 5th or 7th fret at first.

if you really want to rock to weezer now, you can always play and sing it with 5 chords for now.


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## marshallman (Feb 3, 2006)

Try "barring" with the side of your index finger (rolling it backwards towards the neck), instead of flattening it on the fret. This helped me a lot when learning barre chords, and I still perform them this way today.


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## washburned (Oct 13, 2006)

*ironic?*

I was thinking the other day that nearly all of us struggled with barre chords and then moved on to three and four note chords and muted strings...I rarely play a barre chord anymore. Why not skip the whole process?


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## Wheeman (Dec 4, 2007)

washburned said:


> I was thinking the other day that nearly all of us struggled with barre chords and then moved on to three and four note chords and muted strings...I rarely play a barre chord anymore. Why not skip the whole process?


...

I LOVE BARRE CHORDS!

...

Now that I got that out of the way:

Try moving your hand forward so that the your index finger's knuckle is straight. This allows you to apply more pressure with less effort. Try to keep your thumb behind this finger to help apply pressure.

As for the shapes, thats practice. Just keep making those shapes on the neck, even if you aren't necessarily strumming them.

I prefer barre chords over open chords because it gives so much more control. They also make it incredible easy to play a G#m because its the same shape as the Em but at the 4th fret. You don't have to know your fretboard and theory in and out at the first 4 frets to be able to play different chords.

So practice, practice, practice.


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## zontar (Oct 25, 2007)

And there is a lot of overlap in the tips--so I hope you see that as confirmation.

As for barre chords--I use them--I like them--although I play 3 note power chords a lot as well.

Mostly I use barre chords playing at church, when somebody picks a song in Bflat or Eflat--E flat is worse. Most of the time others use a capo--but I don't--and I get to joke that capos are for wimps.

:smile:


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## Wheeman (Dec 4, 2007)

zontar said:


> Mostly I use barre chords playing at church, when somebody picks a song in Bflat or Eflat--E flat is worse. Most of the time others use a capo--but I don't--and I get to joke that capos are for wimps.


To be honest, I don't even own a capo, much less see the need for one. I Find having to map out the chords your own way makes it easier to play and remember.


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## violation (Aug 20, 2006)

washburned said:


> I was thinking the other day that nearly all of us struggled with barre chords and then moved on to three and four note chords and muted strings...I rarely play a barre chord anymore. Why not skip the whole process?


Oddly enough barre chords were the first thing that just kind of came naturally when I started playing... didn't struggle with them at all. But then I had trouble developing some mad tremolo picking from the wrist, it came with time but most people get that down quickly. Playing guitar is weird like that... everyone takes different amounts of time learning different techniques. Luckily for us it's fun. :banana:


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## Lester B. Flat (Feb 21, 2006)

An alternative method of playing the E-shape barre is to use your thumb to fret the 6th string. This way your index finger only needs to cover the 1st and 2nd strings. To play a minor, cover the 3rd string as well. I also use the thumb over top method for the A-shape minor. I realize this is probably the more difficult way for most people but it works for me.


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## Robert1950 (Jan 21, 2006)

What is the radius of the neck of your guitar. It can be harder to play a barre chord with a radius 16" than 9.5" for example.


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## zontar (Oct 25, 2007)

Wheeman said:


> To be honest, I don't even own a capo, much less see the need for one. I Find having to map out the chords your own way makes it easier to play and remember.


I don't own one either. The only legitimate reason, I think--and feel welcome to disagree--is if you play in a tuning geared to a specific key--and you want to play in another key.



violation said:


> Playing guitar is weird like that... everyone takes different amounts of time learning different techniques. Luckily for us it's fun. :banana:


When I taught guitar one of the biggest challenges was teaching a technique I found easy to somebody who struggled with it. I found many students struggled with things I found easy and others found things I struggled with quite easy. If I found it easy I really had to think about something I did naturally. Even if a student struggled with something I struggled with, my solution may not help as much as it helped me--but that was easier.

Having to stop & think about stuff like I did not only helped my students, but it made me a better guitarist as well.


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## devnulljp (Mar 18, 2008)

marshallman said:


> Try "barring" with the side of your index finger (rolling it backwards towards the neck), instead of flattening it on the fret. This helped me a lot when learning barre chords, and I still perform them this way today.


+1 I was just going to say that. The secret it took me months to learn when I was a nipper. Don't let the finger lie flat on the fretboard, rotate it anticlockwise (if you're a righty) so you're using more of the bone than the fleshy part. 










This looks like it might help you: http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/beginner-guitar/barre-chords.htm


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