Challenge 24 of 25
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Try this guitar challenge

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STEP 2: Click the "PLAY" tab below the video to play along with Tony until you can do it on your own.


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Responses

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  1. Learning to fret barre chords is like rolling a big rock up a hill – you think you’ll never get there But eventually you do. One tip I found useful is to take one shape and very slowly experiment with what the absolute minimum amount of pressure is to get a decent sound. its less than you’d think and you learn that you don’t have to squeeze the s!*t out of the neck with your thumb and risk tendonitis That’s why Tony looks so effortless on the videos. Transitioning between barre chord shapes is the next rock you have to push up the hill.

  2. Great lesson. Since I play barre cords often this was my easiest exercise this week. Still having problems with yesterday’s lesson

  3. As usual, the bar chords sucks for me as I can’t seem to squeeze the strings and relax enough to move my finger to a different position, a small gain just trying

  4. I can manage the G barre chord but not the C or D. I just can’t do the A shape with my ring finger. In general, my barre chords are improving, but not in this exercise. I do get the transitions, though.

  5. I added this 1 to my favorites. Not because I like it so much, but to use it in occasional practice. I learned today the I need to practice my bar chords more often. Just to develop better strength in my fretting hand.
    I can feel the workout I’m getting just by letting on and off the note pressure. The faster speeds also make for a better workout.
    I feel like I have the concept and timing of this challenge. My downfall right now is strength and making my fingers cooperate the soreness of it all.
    I think this should be practiced a couple times a month maybe.

  6. I need to work on my grip and wrist position for the G barre chord, I’m holding my left hand almost at a 90 degree angle to my forearm in order to play the chord. I can manage, but I have to shake out the wrist after 3 or 4 repeats of this exercise. Felt a little better when I switched from acoustic to electric for a break. This is why I practice though, right?

  7. Barre chords. Yeah. I’ve struggled with them for a long time. I’ve learned that, for me, barre chords are useable and ring out when I hold my guitar in the classical guitar position. Tony can casually hold his guitar draped over his right thigh. I’ve found more success placing the lower bout between my legs and raising the neck. For whatever reasons my biomechanics click in with this position. It may not be as “cool,” but, hey, making music is what it’s all about. Right?

  8. As you might guess, barre chords are not my favorite, either. But I did find these to be within the realm of possibility for me. I find the first chord (G) to be the most difficult. Lots of muscle memory will have to be developed for that to become natural.
    BTW, I noticed this is an older lesson, signaled by Tony’s arms missing some of his later tatoos. This proves some lessons are timeless…

  9. This is a hard exercise. I can do barre cords barely, but after awhile my wrist hurts. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to do barre chords EVA, I truly hate them!!!! I’m just going to practice going from a G to C barre chord and call it a day.

  10. I can’t begin to say how long it’s going to take me to do this with nice sounding chords. Barre chords have been my nemesis since the beginning. Sigh. BUT! never, ever have I been able to do the C chord that he is talking about here 03555x or the D 05777x – but a wee bit closer today. I’ve been hacking it, clumsily, by putting an index only on 3, then middle/ring /pinkie on 3-4-5 for a C. This hurts a lot, so trying it with a barre on 3 and a ring just holding down D, G, B – it is a mystery how the high E gets muted … I suppose if I just leave this sheet and practice it slowly every day .. for forever … I may actually be able to do these barre chords.

  11. On a positive note… I couldn’t do this challenge at all last time and gave up. This time it rings true AND I have it memorized. but yeah hard on the wrist.

  12. Barre chords are way to go, but they are murder on my wrist & thumb. The A shape is tough but it’s what I need and want..
    will be out of pocket for a couple of days, traveling to South Carolina for the month. Will catch up on Saturday.

  13. It sucks that Im logging in and it doesn’t acknowledge it. Ive logged in twice today from two different devices & no dice. Sux almost as bad as barre chords ;o)

    1. I had the same problem. I finally realized that logging in is not what is being tracked. You are only recognized as ‘being here’ when you click the orange button to signify that you have completed the day’s challenge. I am ‘missing’ the recording of two days this week where I actually spent about 6 hours going through the lessons on the site. But because I either didn’t log it as completed, or I clicked ‘completed’ after midnight, I received ZERO credit for all that time. Consequently, I stopped worrying about what the tracker says and started tracking my own progress.

  14. @N-lightMike , thanks for the reply. Good points. Some classical guitarists use little or no thumb pressure in playing barre chords. The thumb just rests against the back of the neck. Perhaps the position with which they hold their guitar assists in using arm muscles to apply a little pressure makes it less tiring than using hand muscles to “do it all.”

  15. I’ve been doing bar chords for a long time so the second half was easy. Doing the boom chicka part, well, that will take a bit practice isolating the individual notes on the right string.

  16. Yes, Tony you’re right “barre chords aren’t very fun for a lot of reasons”. … lol.. I will give them a try though.

  17. I’m able to play barre chords today which I couldn’t do not long ago. I’m making progress little by little until a little becomes a lot.
    Have a great Thursday everyone! 🙂

  18. I find it easier just to practice a little at a time and take a break…. fingers get sore if you try to do too much for too long. I will have to practice this lesson lots

  19. I hear the bull frogs, Bill_Brown! I’ll have to find time to get the music and try that one! Funny, that my mom taught me to sing that song, and our family used to sing it on camping trips! Brings a smile to my face every time!
    For those new to TAC and/or barre chords, hang in there. . . as many have said, it takes time and consistency, working a little bit frequently. I stopped my guitar journey so many times when I ran into barre chords. Of course, I wish I had hung in there. But now I am playing barre chords fairly successfully since starting TAC. It was a small win to be able to play this challenge (slowly) with barre chords. Although, I did find myself getting lost now and again on the TAB, I could play it. And all the tips and suggestions from the TAC family help a lot! Anyway, have a great day y’all!

  20. I could not do barre chords for more than 1 or 2 measures in the past. Suddenly today, I’m able to barre a few more measures before losing my tone. Seeing this improvement is exciting.

  21. Do you hear Bull Frogs? I hear Bull Frogs – the 3 Dog Night kind (lol) 🙂

    Like @BobMallord , I find transitioning with barre chords easier than open chords. In fact, I prefer playing barre chords over open chords any day, so this lesson is right in my wheel house. One bit of advice I can give is to make sure the thumb of your fretting hand is lined up (on the back of the neck) with the index, it helps to give extra squeeze power to hold down the strings, and helps prevent some muscle pain in the fretting hand.

  22. Great practice for barre chords. They’re always a challenge but I’m getting better with them. A few minutes a day helps build the muscle memory.

  23. If you play barre chords by “squeezing” your left thumb and index finger together, try using the larger muscles of your left arm to “pull” your fretting fingers into the frets. You can balance this force by also pulling the body of your guitar toward you with your right arm. This may help make the chords sound clearer and relieve stress in your left (fretting) hand.

    1. That sounds like an awful lot of effort, @lilsoda . I found it was easier to lessen the amount of pinch between my index and thumb. Yeah, that’s right, no misprint, LESSEN the amount of squeeze. How is that possible? By experimenting with finger and thumb placement, and experimenting with how much squeeze is actually necessary. Start by purposely not squeezing enough, then gradually squeeze more till you get a clean sound.

      It turns out that virtually everyone squeezes too much until they learn how much they actually need. Putting your “whole” body into barre chords, as you describe, simply won’t allow one barre chord heavy song, much less a whole set list of songs where barre chords are used. That describes a lot of people, including professionals. But if you want to be one who can use barre chords easily, you need to find a more efficient way.

      1. I have always found it easier to use my pinky for the C bar chord, etc. it seemed more natural than using the ring finger, less hand contortion.

  24. I loved Tuesday’’s lesson but these barre chords. The barre chords I need for my songs are Bm, F#m and Fm. I can get these by playing the three high strings with the barre. Good enough. I’ll work on Tuesday’s lesson and have fun.

  25. Okay, this lesson really felt good for me. I was able to do both the single note transitions and the full barre chord transitions with little pain in my thumb. All this practice and TAC courses are helping to strengthen my fingers and hands. Great lesson today.

  26. I’m afraid I struggle with this many bare chords together, because of my arthurites, in my left hand! can do it a couple of times but no more! I’ll have another go later!

    1. check out the barre chord lessons in the skill section. So many tricks to make the barre chords easier! Keep strumming!!

  27. After 53 sessions I can safely say I am hopelessly addicted to TAC. I get up at 5am every day eagerly awaiting the challenge for the day. I also enjoy the weekend practicing all the lessons of the week. I’m almost at the end of my three months , and will definitely sign on for a year next.TAC keeps me picking up my guitars and playing they are now instruments again not just decoration like they had become

  28. I don’t have a Mulecaster but i have and unplugged Squier Telecater which makes holding down these barre chords quite easy, it is just the speed of transitioning that i am working to improve, fun!

  29. I could not do bar chords even though I kept trying. Then one day they just started sounding good. Now I find myself using them to make my playing easier. If you are new to guitar and struggle with bar chords, just play a few every day. One day you will have the same “wow it works” moment that I did.

  30. Once again I can hardly believe how quickly these lessons come back to me, I guess they are somewhere in my memory bank although sliding changes in barre chord shapes does make my fretting arm stretch. Going to have to practice this one a bit more, funny but lately when I sit down I go back to Montgomery angel and Ain’t no sunshine! Have a great day everyone! February 1st … can hardly believe that!

  31. What a hand workout! The hardest transition for me was from measure 6 to 7 because I had difficulty shifting the A shaped barre chord to the E shaped barre chord. It’s taken some time, but barre chords are finally getting easier and a bit less painful. Lol!

  32. OK, very hard lesson that made my fretting hand sore very quickly. However, I surprised myself that I can make the barre chords now. That was a long time coming. I can’t do this with any decent speed yet, but I think with time just like making the barre chords the speed will come. I hope, also, the strength in my hand so it doesn’t tire so quickly.

  33. My fingers are working well today. Make these your best friend- you don’t have to see your best friend everyday but there always there when you need them!! Make it Fun !!

  34. I started using my middle, ring, and pinky fingers to make the E chord, then I can just slide them up the neck to make the barre chord. Same with the A minor chord. Much easier in my opinion.

    1. Barre chords are definitely difficult at first. I could barely do them and my fretting hand would hurt so bad. You’ll eventually build the strength…and if you happen to have an electric guitar, barre chords are easier to make because it requires less strength. You’ll get it! 🙂

    2. Keep at it! A little daily. They are still not my favorite but finally the sound is clear! Usually! Then I go play something that’s just fun as a reward for doing the hard thing. Oh, it helps me to stop and stretch out my hand and wrist for a minute.

  35. I guess I’m strange but barre chords are easier for me the open chords. I hope y’all are having great enjoyment playing your guitars. Looking forward to your insights and remarks.

    1. @BobMallord, I agree that barre chords are easier, at least for me. @Bill_Brown uses them as his standard and has gotten quite good.

  36. This lesson is an outstanding session on Barre chords. Thank goodness for FW; I can do this exercise with little effort at a slow speed. I will take some time this afternoon and work on speed. I hope everyone is doing well, and I can’t wait to read the comments.

  37. Had to laugh at this one,I got chewed out from my guitar hot shot bad guy in the old days Guitar Instructor for not catching on with Barre Chords.
    It comes with time and Practice, then they will seem easy and open up a World of Guitar fun!!!
    Great week here,have to share I have a Mulecaster on order,can’t say enough for the team at Mule,I Love My Mavis,what an inspiring guitar that is!!!

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Responses

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  1. Learning to fret barre chords is like rolling a big rock up a hill – you think you’ll never get there But eventually you do. One tip I found useful is to take one shape and very slowly experiment with what the absolute minimum amount of pressure is to get a decent sound. its less than you’d think and you learn that you don’t have to squeeze the s!*t out of the neck with your thumb and risk tendonitis That’s why Tony looks so effortless on the videos. Transitioning between barre chord shapes is the next rock you have to push up the hill.

  2. Great lesson. Since I play barre cords often this was my easiest exercise this week. Still having problems with yesterday’s lesson

  3. As usual, the bar chords sucks for me as I can’t seem to squeeze the strings and relax enough to move my finger to a different position, a small gain just trying

  4. I can manage the G barre chord but not the C or D. I just can’t do the A shape with my ring finger. In general, my barre chords are improving, but not in this exercise. I do get the transitions, though.

  5. I added this 1 to my favorites. Not because I like it so much, but to use it in occasional practice. I learned today the I need to practice my bar chords more often. Just to develop better strength in my fretting hand.
    I can feel the workout I’m getting just by letting on and off the note pressure. The faster speeds also make for a better workout.
    I feel like I have the concept and timing of this challenge. My downfall right now is strength and making my fingers cooperate the soreness of it all.
    I think this should be practiced a couple times a month maybe.

  6. I need to work on my grip and wrist position for the G barre chord, I’m holding my left hand almost at a 90 degree angle to my forearm in order to play the chord. I can manage, but I have to shake out the wrist after 3 or 4 repeats of this exercise. Felt a little better when I switched from acoustic to electric for a break. This is why I practice though, right?

  7. Barre chords. Yeah. I’ve struggled with them for a long time. I’ve learned that, for me, barre chords are useable and ring out when I hold my guitar in the classical guitar position. Tony can casually hold his guitar draped over his right thigh. I’ve found more success placing the lower bout between my legs and raising the neck. For whatever reasons my biomechanics click in with this position. It may not be as “cool,” but, hey, making music is what it’s all about. Right?

  8. As you might guess, barre chords are not my favorite, either. But I did find these to be within the realm of possibility for me. I find the first chord (G) to be the most difficult. Lots of muscle memory will have to be developed for that to become natural.
    BTW, I noticed this is an older lesson, signaled by Tony’s arms missing some of his later tatoos. This proves some lessons are timeless…

  9. This is a hard exercise. I can do barre cords barely, but after awhile my wrist hurts. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to do barre chords EVA, I truly hate them!!!! I’m just going to practice going from a G to C barre chord and call it a day.

  10. I can’t begin to say how long it’s going to take me to do this with nice sounding chords. Barre chords have been my nemesis since the beginning. Sigh. BUT! never, ever have I been able to do the C chord that he is talking about here 03555x or the D 05777x – but a wee bit closer today. I’ve been hacking it, clumsily, by putting an index only on 3, then middle/ring /pinkie on 3-4-5 for a C. This hurts a lot, so trying it with a barre on 3 and a ring just holding down D, G, B – it is a mystery how the high E gets muted … I suppose if I just leave this sheet and practice it slowly every day .. for forever … I may actually be able to do these barre chords.

  11. On a positive note… I couldn’t do this challenge at all last time and gave up. This time it rings true AND I have it memorized. but yeah hard on the wrist.

  12. Barre chords are way to go, but they are murder on my wrist & thumb. The A shape is tough but it’s what I need and want..
    will be out of pocket for a couple of days, traveling to South Carolina for the month. Will catch up on Saturday.

  13. It sucks that Im logging in and it doesn’t acknowledge it. Ive logged in twice today from two different devices & no dice. Sux almost as bad as barre chords ;o)

    1. I had the same problem. I finally realized that logging in is not what is being tracked. You are only recognized as ‘being here’ when you click the orange button to signify that you have completed the day’s challenge. I am ‘missing’ the recording of two days this week where I actually spent about 6 hours going through the lessons on the site. But because I either didn’t log it as completed, or I clicked ‘completed’ after midnight, I received ZERO credit for all that time. Consequently, I stopped worrying about what the tracker says and started tracking my own progress.

  14. @N-lightMike , thanks for the reply. Good points. Some classical guitarists use little or no thumb pressure in playing barre chords. The thumb just rests against the back of the neck. Perhaps the position with which they hold their guitar assists in using arm muscles to apply a little pressure makes it less tiring than using hand muscles to “do it all.”

  15. I’ve been doing bar chords for a long time so the second half was easy. Doing the boom chicka part, well, that will take a bit practice isolating the individual notes on the right string.

  16. Yes, Tony you’re right “barre chords aren’t very fun for a lot of reasons”. … lol.. I will give them a try though.

  17. I’m able to play barre chords today which I couldn’t do not long ago. I’m making progress little by little until a little becomes a lot.
    Have a great Thursday everyone! 🙂

  18. I find it easier just to practice a little at a time and take a break…. fingers get sore if you try to do too much for too long. I will have to practice this lesson lots

  19. I hear the bull frogs, Bill_Brown! I’ll have to find time to get the music and try that one! Funny, that my mom taught me to sing that song, and our family used to sing it on camping trips! Brings a smile to my face every time!
    For those new to TAC and/or barre chords, hang in there. . . as many have said, it takes time and consistency, working a little bit frequently. I stopped my guitar journey so many times when I ran into barre chords. Of course, I wish I had hung in there. But now I am playing barre chords fairly successfully since starting TAC. It was a small win to be able to play this challenge (slowly) with barre chords. Although, I did find myself getting lost now and again on the TAB, I could play it. And all the tips and suggestions from the TAC family help a lot! Anyway, have a great day y’all!

  20. I could not do barre chords for more than 1 or 2 measures in the past. Suddenly today, I’m able to barre a few more measures before losing my tone. Seeing this improvement is exciting.

  21. Do you hear Bull Frogs? I hear Bull Frogs – the 3 Dog Night kind (lol) 🙂

    Like @BobMallord , I find transitioning with barre chords easier than open chords. In fact, I prefer playing barre chords over open chords any day, so this lesson is right in my wheel house. One bit of advice I can give is to make sure the thumb of your fretting hand is lined up (on the back of the neck) with the index, it helps to give extra squeeze power to hold down the strings, and helps prevent some muscle pain in the fretting hand.

  22. Great practice for barre chords. They’re always a challenge but I’m getting better with them. A few minutes a day helps build the muscle memory.

  23. If you play barre chords by “squeezing” your left thumb and index finger together, try using the larger muscles of your left arm to “pull” your fretting fingers into the frets. You can balance this force by also pulling the body of your guitar toward you with your right arm. This may help make the chords sound clearer and relieve stress in your left (fretting) hand.

    1. That sounds like an awful lot of effort, @lilsoda . I found it was easier to lessen the amount of pinch between my index and thumb. Yeah, that’s right, no misprint, LESSEN the amount of squeeze. How is that possible? By experimenting with finger and thumb placement, and experimenting with how much squeeze is actually necessary. Start by purposely not squeezing enough, then gradually squeeze more till you get a clean sound.

      It turns out that virtually everyone squeezes too much until they learn how much they actually need. Putting your “whole” body into barre chords, as you describe, simply won’t allow one barre chord heavy song, much less a whole set list of songs where barre chords are used. That describes a lot of people, including professionals. But if you want to be one who can use barre chords easily, you need to find a more efficient way.

      1. I have always found it easier to use my pinky for the C bar chord, etc. it seemed more natural than using the ring finger, less hand contortion.

  24. I loved Tuesday’’s lesson but these barre chords. The barre chords I need for my songs are Bm, F#m and Fm. I can get these by playing the three high strings with the barre. Good enough. I’ll work on Tuesday’s lesson and have fun.

  25. Okay, this lesson really felt good for me. I was able to do both the single note transitions and the full barre chord transitions with little pain in my thumb. All this practice and TAC courses are helping to strengthen my fingers and hands. Great lesson today.

  26. I’m afraid I struggle with this many bare chords together, because of my arthurites, in my left hand! can do it a couple of times but no more! I’ll have another go later!

    1. check out the barre chord lessons in the skill section. So many tricks to make the barre chords easier! Keep strumming!!

  27. After 53 sessions I can safely say I am hopelessly addicted to TAC. I get up at 5am every day eagerly awaiting the challenge for the day. I also enjoy the weekend practicing all the lessons of the week. I’m almost at the end of my three months , and will definitely sign on for a year next.TAC keeps me picking up my guitars and playing they are now instruments again not just decoration like they had become

  28. I don’t have a Mulecaster but i have and unplugged Squier Telecater which makes holding down these barre chords quite easy, it is just the speed of transitioning that i am working to improve, fun!

  29. I could not do bar chords even though I kept trying. Then one day they just started sounding good. Now I find myself using them to make my playing easier. If you are new to guitar and struggle with bar chords, just play a few every day. One day you will have the same “wow it works” moment that I did.

  30. Once again I can hardly believe how quickly these lessons come back to me, I guess they are somewhere in my memory bank although sliding changes in barre chord shapes does make my fretting arm stretch. Going to have to practice this one a bit more, funny but lately when I sit down I go back to Montgomery angel and Ain’t no sunshine! Have a great day everyone! February 1st … can hardly believe that!

  31. What a hand workout! The hardest transition for me was from measure 6 to 7 because I had difficulty shifting the A shaped barre chord to the E shaped barre chord. It’s taken some time, but barre chords are finally getting easier and a bit less painful. Lol!

  32. OK, very hard lesson that made my fretting hand sore very quickly. However, I surprised myself that I can make the barre chords now. That was a long time coming. I can’t do this with any decent speed yet, but I think with time just like making the barre chords the speed will come. I hope, also, the strength in my hand so it doesn’t tire so quickly.

  33. My fingers are working well today. Make these your best friend- you don’t have to see your best friend everyday but there always there when you need them!! Make it Fun !!

  34. I started using my middle, ring, and pinky fingers to make the E chord, then I can just slide them up the neck to make the barre chord. Same with the A minor chord. Much easier in my opinion.

    1. Barre chords are definitely difficult at first. I could barely do them and my fretting hand would hurt so bad. You’ll eventually build the strength…and if you happen to have an electric guitar, barre chords are easier to make because it requires less strength. You’ll get it! 🙂

    2. Keep at it! A little daily. They are still not my favorite but finally the sound is clear! Usually! Then I go play something that’s just fun as a reward for doing the hard thing. Oh, it helps me to stop and stretch out my hand and wrist for a minute.

  35. I guess I’m strange but barre chords are easier for me the open chords. I hope y’all are having great enjoyment playing your guitars. Looking forward to your insights and remarks.

    1. @BobMallord, I agree that barre chords are easier, at least for me. @Bill_Brown uses them as his standard and has gotten quite good.

  36. This lesson is an outstanding session on Barre chords. Thank goodness for FW; I can do this exercise with little effort at a slow speed. I will take some time this afternoon and work on speed. I hope everyone is doing well, and I can’t wait to read the comments.

  37. Had to laugh at this one,I got chewed out from my guitar hot shot bad guy in the old days Guitar Instructor for not catching on with Barre Chords.
    It comes with time and Practice, then they will seem easy and open up a World of Guitar fun!!!
    Great week here,have to share I have a Mulecaster on order,can’t say enough for the team at Mule,I Love My Mavis,what an inspiring guitar that is!!!

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