[FZRaven]

I'm trying to learn my first song using barre chords, hey there delilah by the plain white t's. I'm having some problems getting to the Bm barre, I can play the barre chord itself just fine. I just can't switch to it fast enough, i've been practicing this song for over a week now.

What can I do to get the switch down faster?

[Tekker]

You can practice just the Bm in isolation from the rest of the chords by playing the chord and then taking your fingers completely off the fretboard and putting them back down. Repeating this process enough and you're fingers will get faster at getting to the Bm chord.

Try to form the chord in the air before your fingers touch the strings. So that all of your fingers come down together and press the strings at the same time. Go slow at first if you need to, then speed up making sure that you fingers always come down together.

It just takes practice (lots and lots of practice). After enough repetitions you fingers will just know right where to go and you won't even have to think about it anymore.

-tkr

[Stratrat]

Originally Posted by Tekker

...It just takes practice (lots and lots of practice). After enough repetitions you fingers will just know right where to go and you won't even have to think about it anymore.

^ What he said.

[jdpaz]

It's tough...it's gonna take more than a week...keep practicing...in a couple of months you won't even remember that it was a problem.

You can also just find an alternative/simplified chord shape instead of a full bar.

[Lutarious]

I had a l0t of trouble with hitting that Bm chord at first. I tried the simplified forms but they never sound right, and sometimes a song just works better when you make the whole chord. Like when it's followed by another similar barre chord or something...

It has been helpful for me to practice just the Bm and then the chord that follows first, then the preceeding chord going to Bm. The transitions are what kill me. Also, when you play that chord, the first thing you're picking is the 5th string, so you might want to emphasize nailing that finger first, then lay out the rest of the chord. Remember that the barre is only on strings 5 and 1. The other three are played with the other fingers anyway.