Active Melody

Learn to play blues guitar.

  • Log In
  • Weekly Lessons
  • Take The Tour
  • Forum
  • Hear From Our Members
  • Membership Sign Up

Barre Chords

Home › Forums › Beginner Guitar Discussions › Barre Chords

  • This topic has 8 replies, 4 voices, and was last updated 12 years, 11 months ago by WhaleRider.
Viewing 8 reply threads
  • Author
    Posts
    • April 8, 2011 at 3:41 am #3849
      Rickey
      Keymaster

        I need help learning how to position my thumb for enough pressure to accomplish Barre Chords. I have tried doing this for a while now and can’t seem to get the hang of it so that it rings true and doesn’t sound “dead” when I try to Barre Chord. Any suggestions. I am a chick with fairly small hands, so maybe that has something to do with it? I don’t know…help!

      • April 8, 2011 at 5:13 am #7535
        Rickey
        Keymaster

          I think the callus that is built on barre finger is the key and will come with practice. However, the thumb is on the back side of neck directly opposite of the bar so pressure can be applied. Try rolling your barre finger a little on its edge more than the flat part.

        • April 8, 2011 at 9:51 pm #7538
          Rickey
          Keymaster

            barre chords are hard…

            stoopid fingers….

            stooopid guitar…..

            surely if you keep doing them they’ll get easier?

            :shut:

          • April 8, 2011 at 11:56 pm #7539
            Rickey
            Keymaster

              Just keep trying…..practicing…..maybe not today or tomorrow…….but you WILL be successful 🙂

              EVERYBODY that plays guitar has been there, trust me!

            • April 9, 2011 at 12:05 am #7541
              Brian
              Participant

                Barre chords are definitely one of the more challenging things to overcome, but you can do it – even with your small chick fingers 🙂 Just keep adjusting your wrist and where your thumb is on the back of the neck. I’m assuming you’re playing acoustic guitar? (It’s more difficult on an acoustic). So you’ll have 2 challenges with barres, the first will be learning how to play one while sitting down.. then you’ll find that it’s another challenge to play it standing up with the guitar on a strap. Because your wrist will be at a different angle. Learn it sitting down first though.

                Just keep practicing it… keep adjusting your thumb and wrist and remember you’re kind of squeezing the guitar neck between your pointer finger and thumb. Just keep playing with it and you’ll get it, but do know that it’s not easy for anyone to get that down. Your playing will be at a whole new level though once you can play barre chords.

              • April 18, 2011 at 8:33 pm #7573
                longbow
                Participant

                  Barre chords aren’t that hard if you learn how to fret them correctly. The first thing you don’t do is lay your first finger flat across the neck. It needs to be slightly arched cause usually you are only barring the 6,5 and 1st strings. Your middle finger, ring finer and baby finger are pressing down on the other strings most times. Go to Guitar Principles.com and there is a ton of info there on playing correctly as for fingering, chord changing, holding the guitar and exactly how your wrist should be bowed when playing certain chords. thanks

                • April 23, 2011 at 5:09 pm #7585
                  Rickey
                  Keymaster

                    Longbow – you have doomed me to spending much time on guitar principles and musictheory.net -and i thank you 🙂 i am a “why am I doing this” type of person. Thnx again

                  • April 26, 2011 at 2:50 am #7591
                    Rickey
                    Keymaster

                      @OGLwithme wrote:

                      i am a “why am I doing this” type of person.

                      Me too….but I come up with another answer.

                      :)One that keeps me away from all that boring stuff.

                      That’s how I stumbled upon this site…..

                    • July 25, 2012 at 1:39 am #8246
                      WhaleRider
                      Participant

                        @liv2worship wrote:

                        I need help learning how to position my thumb for enough pressure to accomplish Barre Chords. I have tried doing this for a while now and can’t seem to get the hang of it so that it rings true and doesn’t sound “dead” when I try to Barre Chord. Any suggestions. I am a chick with fairly small hands, so maybe that has something to do with it? I don’t know…help!

                        I know that this is an old post but I thought I’d reply in case it helps another newbie (like myself).

                        I’ve been trying to play now for 5 months and found barre chords very difficult if not impossible. I have a Steinberger Synapse electric guitar, perfect for travel and I enjoy playing it. About 2 months ago a friend tried to play my guitar and he said it needed to have the action lowered. I didn’t even know what that meant? I took it to a luthier’s shop (that’s another new word I learned – luthier lol), who adjusted it for me and said that my guitar had the highest action of any guitar he’d ever worked on. It came like that when I bought it brand new from musiciansfriend.com.

                        Playing is still a challenge for me because I’m slow but I can finally play barre chords! Frankly, the guitar feels like a totally new and different instrument, gentle touch creates notes I couldn’t even dream of achieving before, whereas in the past I had to use a lot of pressure with my fingers for simple chords. I simply didn’t know.

                    • Author
                      Posts
                    Viewing 8 reply threads
                    • You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
                    Log In

                    Search Forums

                    Quick Links

                    • Latest posts
                    • Most popular posts
                    • Posts Freshness
                    • Posts with most replies
                    • My active posts
                    • All my posts
                    • Posts with my reply

                    Links

                    • Blog
                    • Resources
                    • About
                    • Contact
                    • FAQ
                    • Refunds & Cancellations
                    • Sitemap

                    Recent Lessons

                    1 Note changes everything! The Major Pentatonic scale + 1 note sounds amazing! Guitar Lesson – EP614

                    Improvise a Ragtime Blues lead PLUS a fingerstyle rhythm – Guitar Lesson – EP613

                    Classic Blues by yourself (on acoustic or electric guitar) – Full of Blues lick ideas – Guitar Lesson EP612

                    Contact

                    For all support questions email: support@activemelody.com
                    For all other inquires email: brian@activemelody.com
                    • Facebook
                    • Twitter
                    • YouTube

                    © 2025 · Active Melody. All Rights Reserved. | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use

                    Free Weekly Guitar Lessons

                    Enter your email address below to have the weekly guitar lesson delivered to your email address. I take privacy very seriously and will not share your email address.

                    • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

                    Active MelodyLogo Header Menu
                    • Weekly Lessons
                    • Take The Tour
                    • Forum
                    • Hear From Our Members
                    • Membership Sign Up
                    • Log In

                    Insert/edit link

                    Enter the destination URL

                    Or link to existing content

                      No search term specified. Showing recent items. Search or use up and down arrow keys to select an item.