Barred chords it's the thumb

douglas englund · #1 February 22nd, 2008

I am fairly new to playing the guitar (3 years). i know the majors, minors, Sevens and a few more Chords. The barred chords have been impossible for me, i can barely make an F chord, but thats were it ends. i have had 3 different guitar teachers and still impossible. that is until today i went to a new teacher and in 5 minuets he had me doing barred chords (majors, minors and sevens) up and down the fret board with ease. the secret is he is also a classical guitar teacher and i was hold the guitar incorrectly and my hands were positioned wrong. it was a real treat to be able to play barred chords with ease, i am excited.

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There were several things i was doing wrong.. the main thing was my thumb position was wrapped around the guitar. now i put my thumb under the neck about evenly spaced between my index finger and my second finger. that is the most important issue. also hold the guitar upright, don't bend over the guitar. it is a more comfortable way to play and when i Strom a chord it sounds more even. i wish i could have found this teacher when i first started playing. Oh well. i hope some of this makes sense to you. if not let me know. It is going to take me some time to get used to moving the barred chords around quickly but i am making progress.

Thanks allot i thought i would never be able to do barred chords and all it was was my left hand and holding the guitar in the wrong position. with the thumb positioned in the center of the fret board and directly in line with my index and 2nd finger it is actually very easy to do barred chords. i think the big dilemma about barred chords is having someone show you how to do it correctly. isn't it funny it took 3 teachers and three years before i was showed the correct way to do barred chords. so don't give up on barred chords, i still have a long way to go but victory is sweet. Thanks DouG

Doug · #2 February 22nd, 2008

Congratulations, Doug. Sounds like a good teacher.

douglas englund · #3 February 22nd, 2008

thank you I sure am excited about the guitar again, i wish i had found this teacher from the start, at 66 years old i don't have as much time to learn as some of the younger players. thanks again Doug

pastorbob · #4 February 22nd, 2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by douglas englund

thank you I sure am excited about the guitar again, i wish i had found this teacher from the start, at 66 years old i don't have as much time to learn as some of the younger players. thanks again Doug

Congratulations on the new discovery, and I'll check my own technique. Thanks for the tip!

BTW, if you live to be 130, then you are just middle-aged right now young man!

D-Dawn · #5 February 22nd, 2008

Too cool! I'm glad it's working for you! Thanks for the tip as well, maybe it'll help more people here

si16 · #6 February 22nd, 2008

Great. Barre chords will really open up the fretboard for you.

gasbag · #7 February 22nd, 2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by douglas englund

thank you I sure am excited about the guitar again, i wish i had found this teacher from the start, at 66 years old i don't have as much time to learn as some of the younger players. thanks again Doug

I know how you feel with this. I am around your age and every day I kick myself for not starting 40 years ago.

I started about a year ago and I am still making sounds not found in nature..................

allthumbs · #8 February 22nd, 2008

Congrats

douglas englund · #9 February 22nd, 2008

Thank you for all the nice comments they are appreciated. I am really excited about the barre chords. i new if i didn't learn barre chords it would really limit my playing.

doug russell · #10 February 23rd, 2008

You have a good guitar teacher there. Now your cooking.

douglas englund · #11 February 23rd, 2008

I am attaching a great lesson on what i was talking about. this explains it.

YouTube - Beginner Guitar Lesson: Barre Chords

allthumbs · #12 February 23rd, 2008

I must have talked to newbies hundreds of times, by now, about positioning the thumb under neck. It is a big one.

douglas englund · #13 February 23rd, 2008

The thumb under the neck is the big issue and holding the guitar in close to your stomach and not bending over the guitar and trying to look at the fret board. my teacher told me to look at the dots on the top edge of the guitar if i must.

starsailor · #14 February 23rd, 2008

Thanks for posting this Douglas and the youtube link, I struggle with Barre chords and I'm a bit hit and miss with them so this helps a lot, it does tend to limit you're playing when you want to progress and can get very frustrating too, good teacher you have there

danbhoy67 · #15 February 23rd, 2008

Thanks Douglas, this advice could not have come at a better time for me.