Barre chords...
...or to use the less pretentious spelling, bar chords, are the
reason the guitar is so cool. Simply put, all chord shapes
can moved up and down the fret board, retaining their original
quality,
whether it's major, minor or whatever, but changing pitch and name.
The index finger bars the six strings, becoming the nut -- the
other fingers form the familiar shapes behind the index.
 As
an example (left), the E major chord in this animation moves up
(in pitch) two frets (a whole tone) and the index finger (red
bar) becomes the nut (black bar). A whole tone up from E is F#,
so therefore the new chord is an F# major chord.
This principle applies to all chords on the guitar, whether major,
minor, seventh, sus 4 or whatever... 
The example
to the right shows an A7 chord moving up 3 frets to become a C7
chord (three frets = 3 semitones; 3 semitones up from A is C),
the index barring the fretboard at the third fret. So even though
there are numerous chords , on the guitar many are just the same
old familiar shape in a new position on the neck. If you move a
chord shape up the fretboard 12 frets, you arrive back at the same
chord, one octave higher.
Click here for an index of easy barre chords.
The difficult part is getting your index finger to press down
hard enough to make a nice ringing tone. Your thumb should be directly
behind your index to apply maximum squeeze. Practice is the answer
to this and all other aspects of guitar playing.
Becoming fluent with chords on the guitar requires much time and
patience. You should be able to grasp the fact by now that on a
guitar, there are many positions to play the same thing, whether
chords or notes or riffs or melodies or harmonies. That kink in
the tuning complicates matters further, so that at first glance,
the maze of strings and frets is too daunting to begin to comprehend.
The main thing at this stage is for you to get your fingers nimble
yet tough, your guitar in tune, your ears wide open and your basics
mastered. Then, have a look at my other web site to learn about
the TRICK to keeping track of it all. Now we'll look at the mechanics
of playing the guitar:
Playing the guitar  |
The Guitar Chord Slide Rule
This nifty little slide rule will show you all the main barre chords at a glance and will also teach you a huge lesson about how the guitar works. You will need to print out the various elements and fold them together ... instructions come with the download.
Just $10
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