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Responses
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Day 5 – ‘A’ Shape Exam
Responses
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Got it today, so this was my “one small win” for the week!
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done good again
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All I have to say is wow, lots of muting going on! But each time I got a little better. This takes work but I will conquer it
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The A shape was easier for me to get a cleaner sound than the E shape. Both were challenging.
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Can handle the A shape bar B chord much better than the E shape F chord keeping the high E string active – damage to my index knuckle really makes the F extremely difficult- have thus far used the C-shape higher F and (F maj 7 if I miss the high E string index bar). Will keep at it but can’t fathom E shape Bars becoming second nature.
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only get a thunk sound on the G and B strings when I use the ring finger for the B chord. My best cheat is using the pointer finger to hold the second fret using the other fingers to make a Bm chord. Good news though. Last night when I practiced two of my favorite songs to play, my barre chords sounded much better than ever.
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I definitely improved this week. Not the greatest, but at least more than half the strings were heard clearly. Better than months ago where I only was able to play one or two strings. Good work doing the basics.
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Thank you for this, I have been a little frustrated but trusting the process and you reaffirming that really helps me
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actually heard some notes between the thuds. progress!
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This one of those snap you back into reality weeks of good old-fashioned nose to the grindstone get to work on those fundamental barre chords which are not fun most of the time especially when you get used to doing a lot of power chords instead of the full version. LOL Tony keeping us honest.
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Not perfection, but definitely improving.
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Well, I’ve said this before, I struggle with consistency on these two chords. I know from using them in songs I can sometimes get away with it sounding “alright”, but deep down I know that some strings may be muted or buzzy. So I think these exercises with become a staple for some time until I can feel confident in them. Small win that sometimes the magic works.
Good luck to all you TAC members that struggle along with me.
Have a great weekend folks! -
Now I know what I will be working on this weekend.
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Difficult but good exercise for strengthening my barre chords. I agree with @Jpolley; no pain, no gain..and this is painful!
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Thanks for helping me clean up my muddy barre chords! Literally a case of no pain, no gain, for me.
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This series was an eye opener as to the weakness of my bar chords. Mucho work ahead but with pleasure since I can see what a difference it make.
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I completed this exercise and then decided to move up the neck and play C,D,E,F & G. G was the most difficult but I got it down.
I believe I will work on both the e and A shape daily and play a e shape then an A shape for the next note and back to an E shape and so on.
Finally getting the barre chords under my fingers.. only took a couple of years. -
Glad this is over… made some progress… ugh
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As before, fatigue sets in relatively early… I’ll have to do this exercise regularly to build up some endurance. Again, as before, I find it much better for clarity to use my pinky for the D, G and B strings. My ring finger has a lot of trouble reaching over to the correct fret, so I lose a lot in terms of clarity. But my pinky does get tired pretty quickly, and I really have to keep my focus on using the right amount of pressure on the D string. It’s the first to buzz if I don’t.
Small win – I was able to do this about 10 times before I had to take a breather. -
This has been a challenging week for me!
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I’m gonna give myself an A after a year and a half of work. Happy Friday!
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I always did hate exams, lol. I probably got a C minus on this one. Study (practice) more I guess.
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Great week. These are sounding pretty good so that is a win. Have a great weekend everyone….
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This one is really giving me trouble. I’ll need to devote a couple minutes a day to this for a while.
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Despite my high hopes, I continue to struggle with the “A” shape B chord. Longer fingers probably would help along with less arthritis in the hands. However, hand/finger strength is most responsible for most of my struggle with this shape barre chord. I will make this part of my daily warm-up.
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I’ll work on it today, but with a short scale guitar…maybe that will help.
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Much better with today’s “A”Shape B Barre chord, back on my game today after blowing the full F Barre chord yesterday!
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still tough on the wrist but doable with muscle strengthening
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This week was most enlightening and educational. Thanks
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I can play the B-chord for less than 5 minutes and then I need to stop and rest the left hand. If I use the pinky instead of the ring finger, it works better, and I can get a clear E-string sound.
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Like others have said, my success varies with the day. Today I can’t do the F to save my life, but I can do the B fairly consistently. I will keep doing this as an exercise; hopefully I will be able to get both of them eventually. But I can do the mini F pretty well, so I won’t get hung up on the full F if I ultimately can’t do it.
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Wow. Tough time on this one today. I would give myself no better than a C on this exam. It’s funny how things change from day to day. Yesterday I could play this with clear, ringing strings. Today! ixnay. That’s okay. I’m going to mark it complete and keep back to it until I can do it consistently. I finally got the E-shaped F down so now it’s the A-shaped B I need to work on. I hope all you TACers all over the world have a fabulous weekend.
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Congrats, @Rando and @RichL on 1000 sessions! I also reached that milestone recently. TAC is what got me there! Thanks, Tony! And thanks, TAC family!
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I have been working on this for 6 months, and darn if it did not sound good! Good victory for me!!! Now I need to work on the transitions to and from the E shape to the A shape!!
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Doing pretty good with the B chord as a double barre, thanks to TAC. One thing that also helped was wanting to play “So Happy Together,”with the B chord in it. That motivated me to practice more. Still working, though, on developing stamina and strength. I’m on the road this weekend, but have my guitar with me so I can still play every day. I’m working on a couple more songs to play for my father-in-law in the week ahead.
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I did okay with this chord lesson. Just need to work on clarity of notes, and especially the full strum chord.
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Well done, Randy. I hit 1000 just a few days ago (not knowing about the accuracy of the count). You have a great day, too.
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A big win for a full week showing up & participating in a tough barre shapes & configuration of fingers & strength endurance training!! Its tough & needs lots of time & practice. Thank you
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Just like Wednesday, I find this easier than the E shape. Stamina still needs some work. All in good time.
Today is session 1000 for me. Tomorrow will tie my longest streak at 284. I had to start over a few months back when the web site decided I hadn’t signed on one day, even though the day it said I missed was marked as completed. Hmm. Oh well. Onward and upward.
Have a great day!!-
(I didn’t get this reply placed where I wanted it the first time.) Well done, Randy. I hit 1000 just a few days ago (not knowing about the accuracy of the count). You have a great day, too.
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Thanks RichL and congrats on your 1000, too!
Thanks, Bill_Brown.
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Congrats @Rando & @RichL on 1K playing sessions – AWESOME!!!
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I learned to play the A Shaped Barre Chords covering the low E String as well and not playing it.Always found it faster and much cleaner that way.
Good exercises this week to check up on your Chord clarity. -
How are you muting the high E?
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Just rest your pinkie on the high E string but don’t press down
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Good question, Linnetta. That is the hardest element in a technique that is hard overall. T gives little attention to it. I know two approaches, but am not proficient at either. I think he touches the high E with his ring finger, while depressing the other three strings firmly – a difficult balance. Another approach is muting with the pinkie – also tricky. Empathizing with you!
-
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I think if a person wants to developer their strength to constantly form these chords with clean sound, you’d almost need to do this exercise every day for a month. And this is a very good exercise!! While I was able to “pass” both tests, my hand really noticed it. My goal is to do this every playing session for the next 4 weeks and see where I’m at.
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great goal for building muscle memory and clariety!
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I don’t have any problem with the B chord. My weak point is the Bm chord, specifically the 4th fret on the D string (F#). It is only a problem when finger picking as my finger doesn’t seem to have enough room to get close enough to the fret to get a clean buzz-free note. With practice, it is improving but I still struggle with it.
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Just favorited the E Shape and A Shape exams so that I can come back to them easily! My A shape (B chord) is coming along nicely, the E Shape (F chord) not so much. I would call it a pass on the A and incomplete on the E. That’s why I want to practice this thing regularly until it becomes easy. I have good sized hands, no injuries or ailments that I would hinder me from performing the F. It’s purely weakness, my pinky and ring finger actually hurt when I’m fretting this chord. I just have to develop more toughness in them! My win is the determination to conquer barre chords.
I had the similar muting issues with the G chord and to a lessor degree with the C major chord just a few months back so I know I can overcome! -
Great week of challenges!!!!
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Where’s @HowardM ????
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Here and well, thanks for asking @Bill_Brown. I have been doing my lessons an havent had an opportunity to comment. I hope you are well, my friend.
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One true test of having these barre chords under your fingers is the ability to switch back and forth between the barre chord shapes, in time, while maintaining rhythm and playing a song!
Yesterday I talked about playing a 1-4-5 progression when using an E shaped barre chord as the 1 chord. It’s easy enough, barring the same fret as the E shape but switching to the A shape yields a 4 chord and then moving that A shape up 2 frets (toward the body of the guitar) gives us the 5 chord. But what if I want an A shaped barre chord for the 1 chord? Can I find the 4 & 5 chords easily? Yes you can! Let’s pick an A shaped barre chord (on just about any fret) and call it our 1 chord. By continuing to barre that same fret but switching to an E shape will give us the 5 chord. Moving that E shape down (toward the headstock) 2 frets will yield the 4 chord. Try it out – see for yourself – easy as pie!Happy Friday all and I’ll see you back here on Monday for a new month of challenges 🙂
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Hey @Bill_Brown, you’re just too smart, just as I was about to put my guitar away for the morning after having completed my lesson, you’re comments made me pick it back up and apply your logic and voilà!… Wish someone would have taught me this way in grade 5 and 6, I’d be on stage now! LOL. Thanks for the info, I always appreciate it and yes where is @HowardM, he’s usually the first to comment! … Hope he, you and all of my TAC friends are having a great day… already November 1st, crazy how time flies. Appreciate you Bill!
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@Bill_Brown, Thanks so much for your recent comments! I really appreciate you sharing your music theory knowledge . It is helping me realize how to use my FW knowledge in a very practical way! Wow- light bulb moment! Thanks, again! @SharonSings
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Same, easier than E shape, but my hands cramp up faster….who knows…. Cool sounding chord.
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definitely a hand burner this week. feeling good
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My small win this week is i made it through the 5-day barre chords challenge and my fingers survived! Now i will guiltily admit that the barre chord challenge week is the one set of challenges that i have never ‘favorited’. It has been a good month of lessons with Wagon Wheel, Brothers in Blues, and Full On Fogerty, but i am glad this week is over. Looking forward to the November lessons. Sadly, i will be traveling for work next week so i will miss the first week of lessons. I will try to catch up next weekend. Have a great weekend and week everybody!
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No problems today,easier for me than the e shape.
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Im the first fir comments!! Yay
Congratulations, !
Challenge complete
Come back tomorrow for your next challenge
Got it today, so this was my “one small win” for the week!
done good again
All I have to say is wow, lots of muting going on! But each time I got a little better. This takes work but I will conquer it
The A shape was easier for me to get a cleaner sound than the E shape. Both were challenging.
Can handle the A shape bar B chord much better than the E shape F chord keeping the high E string active – damage to my index knuckle really makes the F extremely difficult- have thus far used the C-shape higher F and (F maj 7 if I miss the high E string index bar). Will keep at it but can’t fathom E shape Bars becoming second nature.
only get a thunk sound on the G and B strings when I use the ring finger for the B chord. My best cheat is using the pointer finger to hold the second fret using the other fingers to make a Bm chord. Good news though. Last night when I practiced two of my favorite songs to play, my barre chords sounded much better than ever.
I definitely improved this week. Not the greatest, but at least more than half the strings were heard clearly. Better than months ago where I only was able to play one or two strings. Good work doing the basics.
Thank you for this, I have been a little frustrated but trusting the process and you reaffirming that really helps me
actually heard some notes between the thuds. progress!
This one of those snap you back into reality weeks of good old-fashioned nose to the grindstone get to work on those fundamental barre chords which are not fun most of the time especially when you get used to doing a lot of power chords instead of the full version. LOL Tony keeping us honest.
Not perfection, but definitely improving.
Well, I’ve said this before, I struggle with consistency on these two chords. I know from using them in songs I can sometimes get away with it sounding “alright”, but deep down I know that some strings may be muted or buzzy. So I think these exercises with become a staple for some time until I can feel confident in them. Small win that sometimes the magic works.
Good luck to all you TAC members that struggle along with me.
Have a great weekend folks!
Now I know what I will be working on this weekend.
Difficult but good exercise for strengthening my barre chords. I agree with @Jpolley; no pain, no gain..and this is painful!
Thanks for helping me clean up my muddy barre chords! Literally a case of no pain, no gain, for me.
This series was an eye opener as to the weakness of my bar chords. Mucho work ahead but with pleasure since I can see what a difference it make.
I completed this exercise and then decided to move up the neck and play C,D,E,F & G. G was the most difficult but I got it down.
I believe I will work on both the e and A shape daily and play a e shape then an A shape for the next note and back to an E shape and so on.
Finally getting the barre chords under my fingers.. only took a couple of years.
Glad this is over… made some progress… ugh
As before, fatigue sets in relatively early… I’ll have to do this exercise regularly to build up some endurance. Again, as before, I find it much better for clarity to use my pinky for the D, G and B strings. My ring finger has a lot of trouble reaching over to the correct fret, so I lose a lot in terms of clarity. But my pinky does get tired pretty quickly, and I really have to keep my focus on using the right amount of pressure on the D string. It’s the first to buzz if I don’t.
Small win – I was able to do this about 10 times before I had to take a breather.
This has been a challenging week for me!
I’m gonna give myself an A after a year and a half of work. Happy Friday!
I always did hate exams, lol. I probably got a C minus on this one. Study (practice) more I guess.
Great week. These are sounding pretty good so that is a win. Have a great weekend everyone….
This one is really giving me trouble. I’ll need to devote a couple minutes a day to this for a while.
Despite my high hopes, I continue to struggle with the “A” shape B chord. Longer fingers probably would help along with less arthritis in the hands. However, hand/finger strength is most responsible for most of my struggle with this shape barre chord. I will make this part of my daily warm-up.
I’ll work on it today, but with a short scale guitar…maybe that will help.
Much better with today’s “A”Shape B Barre chord, back on my game today after blowing the full F Barre chord yesterday!
still tough on the wrist but doable with muscle strengthening
This week was most enlightening and educational. Thanks
I can play the B-chord for less than 5 minutes and then I need to stop and rest the left hand. If I use the pinky instead of the ring finger, it works better, and I can get a clear E-string sound.
Like others have said, my success varies with the day. Today I can’t do the F to save my life, but I can do the B fairly consistently. I will keep doing this as an exercise; hopefully I will be able to get both of them eventually. But I can do the mini F pretty well, so I won’t get hung up on the full F if I ultimately can’t do it.
Wow. Tough time on this one today. I would give myself no better than a C on this exam. It’s funny how things change from day to day. Yesterday I could play this with clear, ringing strings. Today! ixnay. That’s okay. I’m going to mark it complete and keep back to it until I can do it consistently. I finally got the E-shaped F down so now it’s the A-shaped B I need to work on. I hope all you TACers all over the world have a fabulous weekend.
Congrats, @Rando and @RichL on 1000 sessions! I also reached that milestone recently. TAC is what got me there! Thanks, Tony! And thanks, TAC family!
I have been working on this for 6 months, and darn if it did not sound good! Good victory for me!!! Now I need to work on the transitions to and from the E shape to the A shape!!
Doing pretty good with the B chord as a double barre, thanks to TAC. One thing that also helped was wanting to play “So Happy Together,”with the B chord in it. That motivated me to practice more. Still working, though, on developing stamina and strength. I’m on the road this weekend, but have my guitar with me so I can still play every day. I’m working on a couple more songs to play for my father-in-law in the week ahead.
I did okay with this chord lesson. Just need to work on clarity of notes, and especially the full strum chord.
Well done, Randy. I hit 1000 just a few days ago (not knowing about the accuracy of the count). You have a great day, too.
A big win for a full week showing up & participating in a tough barre shapes & configuration of fingers & strength endurance training!! Its tough & needs lots of time & practice. Thank you
Just like Wednesday, I find this easier than the E shape. Stamina still needs some work. All in good time.
Today is session 1000 for me. Tomorrow will tie my longest streak at 284. I had to start over a few months back when the web site decided I hadn’t signed on one day, even though the day it said I missed was marked as completed. Hmm. Oh well. Onward and upward.
Have a great day!!
(I didn’t get this reply placed where I wanted it the first time.) Well done, Randy. I hit 1000 just a few days ago (not knowing about the accuracy of the count). You have a great day, too.
Thanks RichL and congrats on your 1000, too!
Thanks, Bill_Brown.
Congrats @Rando & @RichL on 1K playing sessions – AWESOME!!!
I learned to play the A Shaped Barre Chords covering the low E String as well and not playing it.Always found it faster and much cleaner that way.
Good exercises this week to check up on your Chord clarity.
How are you muting the high E?
Just rest your pinkie on the high E string but don’t press down
Good question, Linnetta. That is the hardest element in a technique that is hard overall. T gives little attention to it. I know two approaches, but am not proficient at either. I think he touches the high E with his ring finger, while depressing the other three strings firmly – a difficult balance. Another approach is muting with the pinkie – also tricky. Empathizing with you!
I think if a person wants to developer their strength to constantly form these chords with clean sound, you’d almost need to do this exercise every day for a month. And this is a very good exercise!! While I was able to “pass” both tests, my hand really noticed it. My goal is to do this every playing session for the next 4 weeks and see where I’m at.
great goal for building muscle memory and clariety!
I don’t have any problem with the B chord. My weak point is the Bm chord, specifically the 4th fret on the D string (F#). It is only a problem when finger picking as my finger doesn’t seem to have enough room to get close enough to the fret to get a clean buzz-free note. With practice, it is improving but I still struggle with it.
Just favorited the E Shape and A Shape exams so that I can come back to them easily! My A shape (B chord) is coming along nicely, the E Shape (F chord) not so much. I would call it a pass on the A and incomplete on the E. That’s why I want to practice this thing regularly until it becomes easy. I have good sized hands, no injuries or ailments that I would hinder me from performing the F. It’s purely weakness, my pinky and ring finger actually hurt when I’m fretting this chord. I just have to develop more toughness in them! My win is the determination to conquer barre chords.
I had the similar muting issues with the G chord and to a lessor degree with the C major chord just a few months back so I know I can overcome!
Great week of challenges!!!!
Where’s @HowardM ????
Here and well, thanks for asking @Bill_Brown. I have been doing my lessons an havent had an opportunity to comment. I hope you are well, my friend.
One true test of having these barre chords under your fingers is the ability to switch back and forth between the barre chord shapes, in time, while maintaining rhythm and playing a song!
Yesterday I talked about playing a 1-4-5 progression when using an E shaped barre chord as the 1 chord. It’s easy enough, barring the same fret as the E shape but switching to the A shape yields a 4 chord and then moving that A shape up 2 frets (toward the body of the guitar) gives us the 5 chord. But what if I want an A shaped barre chord for the 1 chord? Can I find the 4 & 5 chords easily? Yes you can! Let’s pick an A shaped barre chord (on just about any fret) and call it our 1 chord. By continuing to barre that same fret but switching to an E shape will give us the 5 chord. Moving that E shape down (toward the headstock) 2 frets will yield the 4 chord. Try it out – see for yourself – easy as pie!
Happy Friday all and I’ll see you back here on Monday for a new month of challenges 🙂
Hey @Bill_Brown, you’re just too smart, just as I was about to put my guitar away for the morning after having completed my lesson, you’re comments made me pick it back up and apply your logic and voilà!… Wish someone would have taught me this way in grade 5 and 6, I’d be on stage now! LOL. Thanks for the info, I always appreciate it and yes where is @HowardM, he’s usually the first to comment! … Hope he, you and all of my TAC friends are having a great day… already November 1st, crazy how time flies. Appreciate you Bill!
@Bill_Brown, Thanks so much for your recent comments! I really appreciate you sharing your music theory knowledge . It is helping me realize how to use my FW knowledge in a very practical way! Wow- light bulb moment! Thanks, again! @SharonSings
Same, easier than E shape, but my hands cramp up faster….who knows…. Cool sounding chord.
definitely a hand burner this week. feeling good
My small win this week is i made it through the 5-day barre chords challenge and my fingers survived! Now i will guiltily admit that the barre chord challenge week is the one set of challenges that i have never ‘favorited’. It has been a good month of lessons with Wagon Wheel, Brothers in Blues, and Full On Fogerty, but i am glad this week is over. Looking forward to the November lessons. Sadly, i will be traveling for work next week so i will miss the first week of lessons. I will try to catch up next weekend. Have a great weekend and week everybody!
No problems today,easier for me than the e shape.
Im the first fir comments!! Yay