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A shape barr cords
Hello all you future guitarist. I have been practicing guitar on and off for 15 years now and still no matter what I try can not get even close to clean A shape barr cord in the first position as I move up the neck a few frets I’m able because of them being closer together. The problem is my ring finger will not lay flat when I stretch my index finger across to the A string and its very painful on my ring finger and it lifts up off the strings by alot…Im at a lost with this problem and seem impossible after trying everything for years…but yet I see people playing it effortlessly. its killing me….any suggestion? besides give it up as most would
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3 Replies
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Remember, Anthony ( @tonyvm3avm@gmail.com ), you only have to fret the A string, first fret. You don’t need to fret any other string, including the high E to make this chord work. That being said, get you ring finger down first and then get your index to that A string.
If this is what you have already been trying, I have 2 other suggestions. 1st, some people play this with their pinky. I don’t know if you have tried that. The other thing is to stop the video when Tony does it and very carefully analyze the position of his hand and wrist and elbow and fingers. Then try to imitate his position the best you can. When I do this, I can actually make a better A shaped barre chord.
I hope this helps.
MG 😀
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Hiya @Anthony V and congratulations for sticking to it for 15 years!!! And know, that you are not alone with your struggle with the barre chords- I’ve been trying to get that dratted A-shaped barre chord for ages too… Everyone makes it look so easy, that’s true. Although I’m able to get other shaped barre chords by now, that A-shaped one is impossible for me to fret cleanly without deadening the high e string. How do you make a double-barre chord without being double jointed? The standard answer is keep practicing… and I believe there’s at least one Barre Chord workshop here in TAC under “Skill Courses” that’s one thing that might help with Barre Chord technique and finger strength in general…
I’ve also used my own work-arounds for this, and one is to try to practice it on the higher frets with a capo, as the frets aren’t as far apart making it a bit easier to reach everything. Another way I deal with this shape chord is to just play the Amajor open chord using 3 fingers (middle, ring and pinky) and save the index finger for the barre once you move the chord up the neck… Sure, there’s reasons why it’s easier to play it as a double barre chord, but if it’s not possible right now, it’s perfectly OK to find a way to work around that. The take home is to keep practicing, but at the end of the day, play it the way you are able to, and have fun!!
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I have absolutely the same problem with the A shaped barre chord, because the strings fall within the gap of my finger joint and creates a divot so my finger will not lay flat on the B string. The only solution I’ve found is to actually play the individual notes by placing my 3rd, 4th, 5th fingers on the B, G, D strings and my first finger on the A string. Not easy to transition to it, but it works.
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