Barre Chords

One of the things most feared by beginning guitarists is barre chords. These are chords that take a good amount of practice to master. But, really, they’re not anything to fear because, while they are a bit tough at first for a beginner, they can be mastered with some practice.

Most guitarists unfortunately put off learning barre chords because they are intimidated. This isn’t a good move as knowing barre chords are essential to really getting good at guitar. Perhaps you are one of these guitarists and think barre chords are too difficult and not worth your time. Well, read on and you’ll learn that not only are barre chords worth your time, but they’re actually pretty easy.

What is a Barre Chord?

A barre chord is quite simply a chord in which one finger frets 2 or more strings. You might be asking “how can I fret 2 or more strings when I’m supposed to use the tip of my finger to fret a string?” It’s a good question and has an easily explanation: you use the front of your finger (the side that faces outward) to press down on the fretboard.

The first time you barre (that is, use one finger to fret two or more strings), the sound will inevitably not be good. Both notes may not ring. That’s why you should do an exercise to help with getting used to the concept of barring strings.

An Exercise for Barre Chords:

• Take your index finger and try to fret the 5^th fret of the high e string and the 5^th fret of the b string. Arrange your finger so that you place enough pressure on both strings to get the notes to sound clearly.
• Once the notes sound clearly, try to fret 3 strings with one finger: the high e string, b string and g string, all at the 5^th fret. Like before, work on the arrangement of your finger so that you are able to play all three notes clearly.
• Next, try to do 4 strings at once—the high e string, b string, g string and d string. This will probably be very difficult, but the key is to keep practicing it until you can strum all four strings and have each sound.
• Once you’ve got that down pat, move on to using the index finger for 5 strings and then for 6. It’ll take you some time to do this and have it sound good, so just practice.
• Finally, try this same approach with your middle, ring and pinky fingers.

The idea of this exercise is to get you used to barring strings so that playing barre chords will be easy for you.

Barre Chords

So you’ve progressed on from the previous exercise and are willing to play barre chords. Excellent! We’ll be going over 3 of the most common barre chords. Each sound good and require only a bit of practice to master.

F Major:

E: |--1--|

B: |--1--|

G: |--2--|

D: |--3--|

A: |-----|

E: |-----|

Many beginners have problems with this major chord because they are required to barre the bottom two strings (high e and b). It’s really not that hard to play, if you know how to place your fingers. For this chord, you’ll be using your index finger to barre the high e and b strings on the 1^st fret. Then you’ll place your ring finger on the 3^rd fret of the d string and your middle finger on the 2^nd fret of the g string. You’ll only strum these four strings (you will not strum the a or low e string). Pretty easy, eh?

G Major: (alternative)

E: |--3--|

B: |--3--|

G: |--0--|

D: |--0--|

A: |--2--|

E: |--3--|

Those looking for a fuller sound from the G Major will like this alternative, barred version of the chord. You’ll place your middle finger on the 3^rd fret of low e, index finger on the 2^nd fret of a, and you’ll use your third finger on the 3^rd frets of b and e. Initially, this will be difficult, but with practice, the chord should sound good.

D Major: (alternative)

E: |--2--|

B: |--3--|

G: |--2--|

D: |--0--|

A: |-----|

E: |-----|

You might be asking yourself, “what’s so different about this one?” Well, the shape of the chord is the same, but the way you’ll play it is different. Instead of using 3 fingers, how about you use just two? You can barre the bottom 3 strings at the 2^nd fret and then place your ring finger on the 3^rd fret of the b string. Strum the four strings and it’ll sound the same as the regular way of playing the D major chord, except you’ll have 2 free fingers instead of just 1.

Many major and minor chords have the ability to be played barred. Be sure to try this technique on different chords.