October Guitar Routine
-
Welcome To The Boxing Gym
Punching Bag -
Punch It
-
Upper Cut
-
Speed Bag
-
Against The Ropes
-
Wheels On The WagonDogwood Flowers
-
Rock Me
-
Wind And Rain
-
North Country Winters
-
Headin' Down South
-
Brothers In BluesHome Sweet Home
-
Same Old Place
-
Blues Brothers
-
Akroyd Shuffle
-
Belushi Bass
-
Full On FogertyEarthquakes And Lightnin'
-
Nasty Weather
-
Moonrise
-
Hurricane's A Blowin'
-
Bathroom On The Right
-
5 Day Barre Chord ChallengeDay 1 - Limbering Up
-
Day 2 - 'E' Shape Familiarity
-
Day 3 - 'A' Shape Familiarity
-
Day 4 - 'E' Shape Exam
-
Day 5 - 'A' Shape Exam
Try this guitar challenge
STEP 1: Watch the video to learn the bite-sized piece of music
STEP 2: Click the "PLAY" tab below the video to play along with Tony until you can do it on your own.
Like this lesson? Join Tony's Acoustic Challenge to keep going!
Responses
You've been invited to experience Tony's Acoustic Challenge
Stop Dabbling, Start Playing
GET STARTED
Watch the free class to discover the fun guitar learning method used by over 35,000 students to learn guitar through nostalgic songs from the 60s and 70s.
Day 2 – ‘E’ Shape Familiarity
Responses
-
every string sounds like a thud- but I will keep trying!
-
-
One of the things I found helped w/barre chords is to find a song that uses one (or two) and learn it. There are many that use an F and a G chord. Same barre shape, 2 fret different locations. Gave me practice, some fun, and confidence. I still don’t get all strings clear but can now transition (relatively) smoothly between some open and the E shaped barre chords. F,G, and A for example AND play a song or 2.
-
Ever so slowly but I think I’m making progress.
-
That lesson was tough! My left forearm is on !
-
I have a of trouble keeping my index figure straight.
-
Tony you’re right about that B string!! Same thing this time around, that fuzzy buzzy B!! LOL!! E shaped F chord this time around is getting better just need to clean up that fuzzy B! My own fought because a few songs I have been working on has the F# and the B# I have neglected the E shaped F chord! LOL!
-
Correction: The Bm chord.
-
-
I’ve been playing that chord a long time and this exercise still hurt
-
Wow! This is tough! My index finger has an unfortunate counterclockwise twist on it that prevents me from pressing the side against the B and high E strings while doing the E shape. Is there an exercise that will result in my index finger twisting? The result of this problem is that I cannot get the B and high E strings to perform. The other four strings are fine. I guess that’s a small win…
-
Same for me, Gary! Let me know if you get any tips!
-
-
B string is a challenge. Was able to complete the drill.
-
I have been working on the Barre chord for almost a year, and with your helpful hints, getting i!
-
this gives me hope!
-
-
B string is a bit of a toughy for sure but it works if I make an effort to keep my index finger real straight
-
Holy hand crampā¦
-
I am another member of the B (string) Team. I plan to strengthen that part of my finger by opening a beer can š
Good luck everyone! -
Sometimes it sounded great, other times it didn’t -Definitely need more practice. I feel like I need to build up callouses on my index finger to ease the pain a little bit -LOL!
-
Ah, the infamous āBā string! I can consistently get clear tones from the other five strings, but I really have to force the finger down to get a clear B string.
-
Sweet! I can do it! After a couple of minutes i shake my hand out, but i can do it!
-
I still have a problem with the G string not sounding as it should. But overall, doing ok
-
I have used this shape and barre chords for over 50 years (E F#m, G#m, A B7) for a church song. It’s the C shape that has issues.
-
The B string is always a killer for me! So we’ll keep practicing this.
-
Not happening at all for me. Hopefully next week will be better.
-
John – And at first, it won’t. But one keeps doing his practices, rest a couple of days, and you come back to it, and you will be surprised!!!
-
-
It’s a bit inconsistent but at least it’s tiresome…that killer Bee, yikes.
Well sometimes the magic works and sometimes…
The other hurdle to face is transitioning from open to barre chords and barre chord to different barre chord. Oh well, one battle at a time -
Fun to watch out for: while focusing on getting a clean fretting hand, I have to remember to watch the angle of my pick so that I only pick one string at a time and not two.
-
I’m very familiar with Barre Chords, but they are always quite difficult to play on the first two Frets. Still,… practice makes Perfect!
-
Always a bunch of “fun”. š
“Best of luck to you”. What a nice way of saying just do it and stop whining. š Love to kid ya, Tony.I am doing better little by little. MOST of the time I can barre OK, but speed in chord transition is like learning to walk all over again. Doing good, doing good, doing good. Oh! Barre chord! Hang on while I get it fretted.
Thanks for the exercises.
Have a great day!! -
Playing session #101 and a small win for me. I discovered that by flattening out my index finger over the B I can make it sound clean. Just like Tony, the B string has been my problem child when playing barre chords. Tony wasn’t kidding when he said that your fretting hand tires out quickly when playing barre chords. My Martin (“Naomi”) is still hard to make barre chords on because the action is higher than my Recording King (“Abigail”) but I am getting better on both of them. Not perfect but better which is a small win.
-
Another big win for showing up!ā¦.& the finger pain on that dreaded F barre chord!! Lots of practice endurance on this challenge!!! Thank you
-
Gosh finally this week stuff for beginners.yea
-
Great review of the e-shaped barre chord. Lots of finger energy.
-
That muscle in my hand between my index finger and thumb feels like it has a charlie horse!Firt string, B String and High E string go in and out of fuzzy, I am going to switch guitars to my Nylon String LaPatrie Etude to see if this is better!
-
Great review
-
I could do the individual notes eventually yesterday by using my other fingers to assist the index. Today, since those other fingers are involved fretting the E shape, my index is on its own, and can’t seem to get the leverage to press on the B string effectively. Any tips?
Also yesterday, I found rolling my index finger forward gave me better effectiveness on the 5th and 6th frets. Instead of rolling it back like Tony shows. -
As I’m attempting this after yesterday’s barring exercise I realize that the muting is often not the fault of the index finger forming the barre. The culprit can be one of the other 3 fingers either not fretting the A, D or G string correctly or interfering with an adjacent string. The fingers all have to do more than meets the eye here, F chord is mighty complicated.
I notice that Tony’s index finger is rather curved, when I try to mimic this all my fingers have to lay down and they mute incessantly.
Conclusion: I have to learn to rotate my #1 finger in it’s socket independently while applying consistent pressure and then just fret the remaining 3 fingers as if #1 were completely idle. -
Fun learning something new about guitar playing. Found this lesson very interesting. Quite a challenge to get that B string to ring clearly, but getting it.
-
I think this is a great exercise and plan on doing it daily as a warmup. I was surprised how quickly my wrist and fingers tired out. I also tried moving the e shaped barre chord up and down the fret board playing what I think would be the g, a, b and c chords. That’s going to need some practice also as even though I’m just sliding the shape sometimes the fingers didn’t wind up in the right positions. Haha
-
Oh barr chords are a challenge. Patience and practice I tell myself.
-
These are tough but working on this a few minutes at a time, several times throughout the day seems to work pretty well for me. It keeps the finger/arm cramping to a minimum.
-
Good overall review. It got me to thinking that E shaped chords are 1-5-1-3-5-1 (or Do-So-Do-Me-So-Do) all the way up and down the neck. I haven’t really thought about it before in that way.
-
Fun playing the E shaped F chord which is made up of the Root-3-5 notes (F-A- C) of the F scale. Another name for playing the notes in sequence like this is an Arpeggio . Have fun…
-
Tough lesson for me today but felt like progress was made. Still working on the B string.
-
Barre chords are tricky, but it just takes time! A little each day! It’s taken me many years to be happy with them! I still don’t get them right every time! It’s good to go back to the basics, when ever you need too! Enjoy the the Journey!!!
-
Nice to be here again!
-
I need some younger fingers for sure, but I’ll have fun with this in the meantime.
-
You don’t need younger fingers, just a little time! Keep going my friend! Little each day!
-
-
Having a hard time getting a clean B.. Arm does get tired.
-
That B also wants to be my “buzzer”.
-
-
@motoradrider, I wonder that too! A mean person! š I had more problem with the D even though it had a dedicated finger… lazy dedicated finger…wouldn’t stay in place…. Good workout!
-
Not fun but necessary. I know that in the very near future my barre chords will sound great.
-
Yep,hand got tired quickly,and the b string was difficult.Tony seems to arch his index finger almost looking like he is only fretting the low e,the b and the high e.
-
The old hand tired quickly. Lol.
Have a great day people. -
This is a great lesson and technique approach. It’s difficult but enjoyable. I hope everyone is doing well, and I can’t wait to read the comments.
-
Who ever thought up the F bar chord anyway???
-
@motoradrider I think it was the Marquis de Sade who came up with barre chords when he was looking for ways to torture guitar players.
-
Congratulations, !
Challenge complete
Come back tomorrow for your next challenge

every string sounds like a thud- but I will keep trying!
Ouch!
One of the things I found helped w/barre chords is to find a song that uses one (or two) and learn it. There are many that use an F and a G chord. Same barre shape, 2 fret different locations. Gave me practice, some fun, and confidence. I still don’t get all strings clear but can now transition (relatively) smoothly between some open and the E shaped barre chords. F,G, and A for example AND play a song or 2.
Ever so slowly but I think I’m making progress.
That lesson was tough! My left forearm is on !
I have a of trouble keeping my index figure straight.
Tony you’re right about that B string!! Same thing this time around, that fuzzy buzzy B!! LOL!! E shaped F chord this time around is getting better just need to clean up that fuzzy B! My own fought because a few songs I have been working on has the F# and the B# I have neglected the E shaped F chord! LOL!
Correction: The Bm chord.
I’ve been playing that chord a long time and this exercise still hurt
Wow! This is tough! My index finger has an unfortunate counterclockwise twist on it that prevents me from pressing the side against the B and high E strings while doing the E shape. Is there an exercise that will result in my index finger twisting? The result of this problem is that I cannot get the B and high E strings to perform. The other four strings are fine. I guess that’s a small win…
Same for me, Gary! Let me know if you get any tips!
B string is a challenge. Was able to complete the drill.
I have been working on the Barre chord for almost a year, and with your helpful hints, getting i!
this gives me hope!
B string is a bit of a toughy for sure but it works if I make an effort to keep my index finger real straight
Holy hand crampā¦
I am another member of the B (string) Team. I plan to strengthen that part of my finger by opening a beer can š
Good luck everyone!
Sometimes it sounded great, other times it didn’t -Definitely need more practice. I feel like I need to build up callouses on my index finger to ease the pain a little bit -LOL!
Ah, the infamous āBā string! I can consistently get clear tones from the other five strings, but I really have to force the finger down to get a clear B string.
Sweet! I can do it! After a couple of minutes i shake my hand out, but i can do it!
I still have a problem with the G string not sounding as it should. But overall, doing ok
I have used this shape and barre chords for over 50 years (E F#m, G#m, A B7) for a church song. It’s the C shape that has issues.
The B string is always a killer for me! So we’ll keep practicing this.
Not happening at all for me. Hopefully next week will be better.
John – And at first, it won’t. But one keeps doing his practices, rest a couple of days, and you come back to it, and you will be surprised!!!
It’s a bit inconsistent but at least it’s tiresome…that killer Bee, yikes.
Well sometimes the magic works and sometimes…
The other hurdle to face is transitioning from open to barre chords and barre chord to different barre chord. Oh well, one battle at a time
Fun to watch out for: while focusing on getting a clean fretting hand, I have to remember to watch the angle of my pick so that I only pick one string at a time and not two.
I’m very familiar with Barre Chords, but they are always quite difficult to play on the first two Frets. Still,… practice makes Perfect!
Always a bunch of “fun”. š
“Best of luck to you”. What a nice way of saying just do it and stop whining. š Love to kid ya, Tony.
I am doing better little by little. MOST of the time I can barre OK, but speed in chord transition is like learning to walk all over again. Doing good, doing good, doing good. Oh! Barre chord! Hang on while I get it fretted.
Thanks for the exercises.
Have a great day!!
Playing session #101 and a small win for me. I discovered that by flattening out my index finger over the B I can make it sound clean. Just like Tony, the B string has been my problem child when playing barre chords. Tony wasn’t kidding when he said that your fretting hand tires out quickly when playing barre chords. My Martin (“Naomi”) is still hard to make barre chords on because the action is higher than my Recording King (“Abigail”) but I am getting better on both of them. Not perfect but better which is a small win.
Another big win for showing up!ā¦.& the finger pain on that dreaded F barre chord!! Lots of practice endurance on this challenge!!! Thank you
Gosh finally this week stuff for beginners.yea
Great review of the e-shaped barre chord. Lots of finger energy.
That muscle in my hand between my index finger and thumb feels like it has a charlie horse!Firt string, B String and High E string go in and out of fuzzy, I am going to switch guitars to my Nylon String LaPatrie Etude to see if this is better!
Great review
I could do the individual notes eventually yesterday by using my other fingers to assist the index. Today, since those other fingers are involved fretting the E shape, my index is on its own, and can’t seem to get the leverage to press on the B string effectively. Any tips?
Also yesterday, I found rolling my index finger forward gave me better effectiveness on the 5th and 6th frets. Instead of rolling it back like Tony shows.
As I’m attempting this after yesterday’s barring exercise I realize that the muting is often not the fault of the index finger forming the barre. The culprit can be one of the other 3 fingers either not fretting the A, D or G string correctly or interfering with an adjacent string. The fingers all have to do more than meets the eye here, F chord is mighty complicated.
I notice that Tony’s index finger is rather curved, when I try to mimic this all my fingers have to lay down and they mute incessantly.
Conclusion: I have to learn to rotate my #1 finger in it’s socket independently while applying consistent pressure and then just fret the remaining 3 fingers as if #1 were completely idle.
Fun learning something new about guitar playing. Found this lesson very interesting. Quite a challenge to get that B string to ring clearly, but getting it.
I think this is a great exercise and plan on doing it daily as a warmup. I was surprised how quickly my wrist and fingers tired out. I also tried moving the e shaped barre chord up and down the fret board playing what I think would be the g, a, b and c chords. That’s going to need some practice also as even though I’m just sliding the shape sometimes the fingers didn’t wind up in the right positions. Haha
Oh barr chords are a challenge. Patience and practice I tell myself.
These are tough but working on this a few minutes at a time, several times throughout the day seems to work pretty well for me. It keeps the finger/arm cramping to a minimum.
Good overall review. It got me to thinking that E shaped chords are 1-5-1-3-5-1 (or Do-So-Do-Me-So-Do) all the way up and down the neck. I haven’t really thought about it before in that way.
Fun playing the E shaped F chord which is made up of the Root-3-5 notes (F-A- C) of the F scale. Another name for playing the notes in sequence like this is an Arpeggio . Have fun…
Tough lesson for me today but felt like progress was made. Still working on the B string.
Barre chords are tricky, but it just takes time! A little each day! It’s taken me many years to be happy with them! I still don’t get them right every time! It’s good to go back to the basics, when ever you need too! Enjoy the the Journey!!!
Nice to be here again!
I need some younger fingers for sure, but I’ll have fun with this in the meantime.
You don’t need younger fingers, just a little time! Keep going my friend! Little each day!
Having a hard time getting a clean B.. Arm does get tired.
That B also wants to be my “buzzer”.
@motoradrider, I wonder that too! A mean person! š I had more problem with the D even though it had a dedicated finger… lazy dedicated finger…wouldn’t stay in place…. Good workout!
Not fun but necessary. I know that in the very near future my barre chords will sound great.
Yep,hand got tired quickly,and the b string was difficult.Tony seems to arch his index finger almost looking like he is only fretting the low e,the b and the high e.
The old hand tired quickly. Lol.
Have a great day people.
This is a great lesson and technique approach. It’s difficult but enjoyable. I hope everyone is doing well, and I can’t wait to read the comments.
Who ever thought up the F bar chord anyway???
@motoradrider I think it was the Marquis de Sade who came up with barre chords when he was looking for ways to torture guitar players.