Introduction[]
Barre Chords are chords played at higher frets when you lay your index finger across the fretboard to fret all the strings. This raises the overall pitch and can make it possible to make fuller, richer chords not possible as Open chords.
They are also very useful to play movable chord positions. Most of the popular songs use barre chords and after learning them you will be able to play them.The learning of this type of chord for the first time will take some time but once you get the hang of it you will be able to learn and figure out new chords easily.
The index finger[]
To start learning a barre chord first you need to learn how place your index finger to press all the six strings so that all the notes sound clearly. Here is what you do-
- Put your index finger on the 2nd fret such that it covers all the strings. Make sure that the top part of your finger presses the sixth string. The finger should not be sticking up (or out).
- Now roll your fingers a little backwards so that the side of your finger is pressing the strings. This will help you a lot in making the notes to sound clearly.
- Pick each string seperately and make sure that the sound is clear.
The notes may not sound clearly for the first few times you try but be patient and practice a lot.
Your First Barre chord[]
Okay, once you can press your Index finger with enough pressure its time to learn your first barre chord! We'll learn the F major chord. Its tab is -
*-----1----------------------
*-----1----------------------
*---------2------------------
*-----------------3----------
*-------------3--------------
*-----1----------------------
I M R P
I- Index finger
M- Middle
R- Ring
P- Pinky
Here is how you do it-
- First cover all six strings on 1st fret with your index finger.
- Then place the Middle finger on the 3rd string.
- Next place the Ring finger on the 5th string.
- Lastly place the pinky on the 4th string.
Now play all the strings individually and make sure they sound clearly. Now you have learnt your first barre chord. Now try to strum it and practise playing this chord with other open chords like Cmajor Gmajor etc. Check out the Chord Dictionary for more barre chords and open chords.