[ragser]

Some of you might remember a post that I made a while back regarding the B chord. I couldn't manage to do a B on my steel stringed Cort guitar. No matter what I did, my ring finger muted the lowest e-string on the fourth fret because my finger was too big and/or too stiff to do this without muting the lower e-string. No matter how much time I spent I couldn't do it and I draw the conclusion that my fingers were just too big or stiff. (I could do a B on my brothers nylon stringed guitar though which has a wider neck) but not on my steel stringed guitar. But I stuck to it and every now and then I sat down to play Teenage Dirtbag by Wheatus which is a very easy song and it contains a B which is played repeatedly throughout the entire song. I've never even been near to succeeding with a clean B. No progress at all was made for weeks... until TODAY! I have no idea how this happened but all of a sudden I can do it! Not perfect every time, yet. But eventually! This is just so weird because I was playing teenage dirtbag last night as usual and I got pissed because I hadn't made any progress at all. And today it's just there!

My point is, don't blame your guitar or your fingers for things that you can't manage to do. Sure some things can be EASIER with the right guitar for certain things but this convinced me that if you stick to it and try hard enough you will eventually make it not matter what you're trying to play.

So for all of you who's in the same position as I was and feel hopeless that you're not making any progress, just stick to it! You'll be able to do it sooner than you think!

[allthumbs]

Congrats on the B chord. That's a toughie.

[BackToBlack]

Congrats and thanks. I'm suffering thorugh the B chord now as well.

[justinthyme]

Yes, its amazing how the body does that ... just refuses to do something for weeks/months then suddenly just decides the time has come - and does it like its never been a problem before.

Gives us all hope!

[GeoNjules]

very encouraging post ...thanks.

[knight46]

Great success story, thanks.

[dutchman063]

thats how i felt when learning barre chords..i didnt think there was any way i could ever play those efficiently.. they have now become my favorite chords to play

[Lcjones]

Congrats....

of course, thats why they call it the "Belligerent B"!



**
LC

[LongT]

Good for you. My problem seems to be with the rhythm to syncopation. I can play it if I don't try to count it or use a metronome. But when I tap the beat or use a metronome I mess up. I'll keep at it!!

Bill

[fly135]

I wouldn't be too concerned about the muting of the F# on the e string. It's still a B chord without it. You are already playing the F# on the D string 4th fret.

[pitney]

bravo dude
i hated barre chords so much in the begining i learned jazz chords instead lol now i can play both its great to have as many options as possible :-)

[cshude]

Excellent! Good to see that you're making progress. Keep it up!

[Kashmira]

practice makes perfect .. its a fact of life . innit.

[Stratrat]

Congrats and good job sticking with it, Ragser!

[GotDeeBlues]

I keep trying barre chords without a whole lot of luck yet, but determined. I guess there's no way around it, unless someone comes up with a way to call for a stunt double to jump in at the right time.