Guitar - Barre Chords

[Samdy Gray]

Fuck me they're hard aint they!

I really can't get the hang of them. Anyone got any tips?

[Leggett]

never eat yellow snow.

[genf_stfc]

Fuck me they're hard aint they!

I really can't get the hang of them. Anyone got any tips?

yeah, don't bother - play fifths on the bass strings and turn the distortion up so you sound like metallica but look like you know what you are doing (actually can hold a ciggie at the same time if you do that).  Or force yourself to get to grips with them at an early age and practise loads... I've been playing best part of 20 years, and afraid I went for the first option and have since found it very hard to make myself do it properly...

[Samdy Gray]

Fuck me they're hard aint they!

I really can't get the hang of them. Anyone got any tips?

yeah, don't bother - play fifths on the bass strings and turn the distortion up so you sound like metallica but look like you know what you are doing (actually can hold a ciggie at the same time if you do that).  Or force yourself to get to grips with them at an early age and practise loads... I've been playing best part of 20 years, and afraid I went for the first option and have since found it very hard to make myself do it properly...

It's an accoustic, otherwise I would!

I started off with the accoustic because I was told it's easier going from accoustic > electric rather than the other way, mainly because you need more pressure on the strings with an accoustic so it's good for building up muscles in your hand and such.

Just have to keep perservering (sp) then!

[Iffy's Onion Bhaji]

yep! pieman has the same problem. you should have just been a bassist  

[flammableBen]

Something you just get the hang of with practice I think.

[MR BEN]

I find it better to slightly turn my finger so the side is pushing down on the strings, it makes it easier to get your other fingers across the fret board

[genf_stfc]

ah, well, on acoustic I went a completely different route to still avoid barres - get the thickest strings you can (I use 13s) because they sound better and then only play open chords, telling people its too hard to do barres on such thick strings, but its a sacrfice I make for the sound....  Just be careful which strings you strum !

Seriously though, the finger to the side advice is also good and also make sure you keep it parallel to the fret and at the optimum distance behind the fret.  It doesn't help if you have really bony, not very straight fingers though...you just have to find what works best for you.  Also don't fall into the trap of trying to hook your thumb over the top of the neck, you need your thumb on the middle of the back of the neck so you can basically squeeze from tip of thumb to knuckle on your first finger (although you can sometimes hold the bass string down with you thumb and get the basic effect of a barre chord without needing to hold all the strings with one finger- pretty bad habit to get into though I think !)

I've never really played a classical guitar with nylon strings - should imagine thats a lot easier to do barres on, but frankly I don't like the sound much.

Sadly though, and I think its more true with musical instruments than a lot of things, years of soul destroying awful sounding practice is probably the only way !

[Samdy Gray]

I'm slowly getting used to it now, just can't get the top E string to sound properly because I can't get enough pressure on the fret.

Oh well, *Shakes pain from left hand*, time to keep trying.

[flammableBen]

I'm still prety crap but I used to find I'd get cramp across my hand between my index finger and thumb if I played loads of barre chords. Went away after a while

[Bennett]

I find it better to slightly turn my finger so the side is pushing down on the strings, it makes it easier to get your other fingers across the fret board

word

[Northern Red]

I find putting two fingers on the front and two around the back to twang the G-string works....

[Tails]

Practice. I've been playing for years and it comes naturally now.