Stupid Barre Chords!!!!! I hate you!!!!

[littlebill31]

I been getting back into guitar lately. It helps me to, kind of, unwind a little. I'm a fan of the bluesy, Johnny Cash style. Strumin' A, B7, E. Maybe a little E7, B7, A7. You can get a good little rythm going with just that. Anyway I have been working on my barre chords. I'm really not sure my fingers were made to do that. I don't think I should have to use my other hand to help place my fingers during changes, lol. I can play "City of New Orleans" pretty good.... except for that damn Bminor barre chord, ugh.

 

[xjwmx]

Ha Ha. Make sure your thumb is pretty much behind the 1st finger and thumb isn't wrapped over the top too much. When you put the fingers down for a chord think of them as going down in order, like a barred bm might go down in the order 1,2,3,and 4th fingers, in that order but still real quick. That way you don't feel like you have to do it all at once. Eventually it's automatic. And remember- pain is bad musicianship leaving the body Semper fi.

 

[jchrisk1]

You can try playing them Jimi Hendrix style. Thumb over the top fretting the top string.

 

[TeeCat]

Bill, I have found it helpful to try to make sure that you're barring with more of the side of your index finger (the more boney part) than the more padded bottom... just a slight "roll" of your index toward the nut. Also, practice them with a capo (to help close up the action a little and reduce resistance), and gradually move it down the neck as you get more stamina/strength.

I had fits with those, too. Now I can play a clean barre, but they are now the least of my worries... Hang in there... you'll get it.

TC

 

[jchrisk1]

Well, I've said before and I'll say it again. If you played bass you wouldn't have that problem.Bass players do it better.

 

[jchrisk1]

Just kidding. I'm not looking for treble.

 

[littlebill31]

Just kidding. I'm not looking for treble.

Oh, that's bad, lol.

My main problem is that I have broken my left hand fingers several times. So my middle and ring finger don't like to seperate well. F major and C major are also a problem, but nothin like those damn barre chords!!!!!

 

[TeeCat]

Oh, that's bad, lol.

My main problem is that I have broken my left hand fingers several times. So my middle and ring finger don't like to seperate well. F major and C major are also a problem, but nothin like those damn barre chords!!!!!

Bill, capoing can help with that. What you want to do is limit the real estate that your hand has to cover initially until you teach those muscles how to spread those fingers laterally; our hands are not really designed to do that... they are mainly designed to grasp.

Start at the 4th or 5th fret and work toward the nut as your finger span acclimates. They are small, specific muscles that have to be trained. I have similar issues to overcome in my fretting hand because of some ulnar nerve neuropathy from bike racing.

 

[xjwmx]

If stretches are a problem sometimes centering the stretch around the center of the hand or thumb can help, so that the stretch is split on both sides, to the front and back, e.g. so both aren't trying to stretch apart and to the same side as well.

The secret of electric guitar is real thin strings, like .009" for the thinnest string. Classical strings are just as easy to push down. Don't fixate on your disabilities. Better guitarists than you have had their hands smashed. But if you can't separate the two middle fingers, practice the Vulcan peace sign. I can do it with my left as a byproduct of the control I've developed, but can't even begin to with my right. But I could if I wanted to, through practice. Just got to get the brain linked up to the right pathways through repetition. Not really a matter of strength. To play fast practice slow.

 

[TurboFarviknugn]

Try Playing with only 3 fingers !!!

I plink around but amputated my left ring finger tip when I was young (NO I wasn't running with scissors, although thats what I told my kids happened THEY never ran with them once ! ) I pratice BLUES / DELTA BLUES mostly with a slide on that finger.

I pretty much SUCK !

 

[littlebill31]

Thanks all. I'm practicing like crazy, and can play all the standard chords, getting much better on changes, but just those darn barres. Of course a lot of "simple" (my ass) songs have barre chords. I've began to just skip over them, lol. I can't stick my tongue out to one side any farther than I am.
And as Ringo Starr once said, "I've got blisters on me fingers!!!!"

 

[jchrisk1]

xjwmx is dead on. Get the smallest gauge strings you can find for your instrument and stretch your fingers. You can stretch your fingers at anytime. I would stretch mine by making upside down vee's and stretch them over my knee. Alternating between fingers. Ther lots of strength and stretching exercises you can do on your instrument as well.

 

[Kingwj]

Well, I've said before and I'll say it again. If you played bass you wouldn't have that problem.Bass players do it better.

 

[Carolina]

Bill sell the guitar and buy you a dobro and you can barre chords all the time lol.