Barre Chords Video Lesson

Undoubtly, this is one of the biggest obstacles for beginner guitarists. Barre chords are tricky because all six strings of the guitar need to be fretted with one finger - the barre.

The good news is, once you can play one of them, you will be able to play all. And not only will you be able to play all barre chords - you will also be able to play all essential chords just by moving around a couple of barre shapes. I am sure you have seen rock bands - or pop bands for that matter - who seem to simply move around one single chord shape throughout a whole song.

Either way, this lesson will hopefully be a huge eye-opener for you. As soon as you manage to play one barre chord, just use the rules presented here to start moving the chord around on the guitar - and thereby playing any chord in any key. And you know what - this lesson shouldn't take you more than 20-30 minutes to grasp - so let's get going.

     Barre fretting technique

Okay - let's dive directly into the trickiest part - how to fret the barre. A picture says more than thousand words - this especially true for barre chords. Pay more attention to the pictures and video here, to understand the explanations:

1. Here is an picture of extremely bad barring technique. The barring finger - index finger - has to be paralell to the fretboard, thereby fretting all six strings.

 

2. In order to get strength from the "barring" index finger - it is important to let the tip of the finger go pass the "fretboard edge".

 

3. Also, you don't want the "flat side" of the index finger to be paralell to the fretboard. In order to produce an even pressure on all six strings - rotate your finger. This picture is an exaggerated illustration of the correct rotation.

 

If you get these three steps down, the six strings should be fairly audible when strummed.

Barre chords can be quite a hassle for beginners

Some barre chords only have a barre on 5 or 4 strings - if you get the six string barre chord down, the other barre chords will not be a problem for you.

The further down on the neck you go (=towards the lower frets, fret 1-3) the more left hand pressure will be required. Your first barre attempts should therefore be done higher up on the neck (frets 5-9) .

     Barre chords in different keys

If you manage to play the barre - it is time to play an actual barre chord. Let's try a Bb minor barre chord:

e|-6---| b|-6---| g|-6---| d|-8---| a|-8---| e|-6---|

By moving this shape down to the third fret (ie the barre on the third fret) - we get a G minor barre chord:

If we move it to the first fret we get an F chord. See the following diagram of the notes on the e-string- to play a barre chord of any key.

You can also use the diagram above to obtain a major barre chord in any key. Here is what a Bb major barre chord looks like:

By moving this shape down to the fourth fret (ie the barre on the fourth fret) - we get a G# major barre chord:

     More barre chords

If have come this far - you are about to start enjoying the fruits of barring. Use the following shapes to get all sorts of interesting chords.

Gmajor7 (= GM7)

e|-3---| b|-3---| g|-4---| d|-4---| a|-5---| e|-3---|

Gminor7 (=Gm7)

Gdominant7 (=G7)

e|-3---|
b|-3---|
g|-4---|
d|-3---|
a|-5---|
e|-3---|

Good luck - see you soon!

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