Barre Chords

You probably know how to play open chords by now. Open chords are chords which have one or more strings played open. In this lesson, you will learn to play barre chords, which are a bit difficult to play.

This is a certain F Major chord: [1 3 3 2 1 1].

This is not very easy to grab. It involves the placement of a bar. Your pointer will cover the whole of the first fret. This is called 'placing a bar'. Here is an image showing the F Major chord:


Now don't immediately start trying to grab this chord. I will explain the process of placing a bar first.

Here is an image of a correctly placed bar. The first knuckle from the top should be between the 3rd and 4th strings. Your finger should be a little bit tilted, as in the image (the right side of the finger is a little bit raised, and more of the left side is actually holding the strings down).

You will find placing the bar a difficult job in the beginning. This is because your finger and thumb are not strong enough. Infact, don't expect yourself to produce much sound at first. Just keep practicing. Don't overdo it; you don't want to end up with bleeding fingers.

When you have managed to place a bar, place the rest of your fingers in position, and then strum the chord. Chances are, you will not hear anything, because it is unlikely that your fingers are stong enough to grab the chord. However, once your fingers grow strong, you should hear the F Major chord upon strumming the chord.