[gonzo]

anyone have any tips for playing the B chord.. in particular B major. i just cant seem to cram all 3 of my fingers onto the one fret for this one. getting my 1st finger across all those and still being able to use the rest of my fingers is hard enough. getting my other fingers 2 frets down is hard also.

the B major i got right now looks like this:

x
| | | | | |
| 1------1
| | | | | |
| | 2 3 4|

and the minor looks like this:

x
| | | | | |
| 1------1
| | | | 2 |
| | 3 4| |

thanks..

gonzo

[allthumbs]

doing barr chords well is just practice, it will come in time. You can do variations of the B chord. It's ok to drop the bottom string or the top string and just play those for B major. Another way to play it would be
000000
010001
000000
002130
some people find that easier for B major. B minor is a little easier. It is ok to drop the bass string and just play the first four strings.
You can always go up the neck where it is easier to barr and play your B chords at the 7th fret, that way you avoid the 123 part .
When I barr low on the neck, I make sure my index finger extends past the top edge of the neck,that gives me better leverage. Make sure your thumb is directly below your index finger like you are doing a pinch. That gives you more leverage too. I have big hands so the extended index finger thing might not work for you. You will get your barr chords down in time so hang in there and have fun.

[gonzo]

thanks thumbs,

i'm having a lot of fun learning. it seems i have been picking it up rather easily this time (as opposed to all the other times i've tried).

i'm confused about the bar chord layout you gave though. did you intend for that extra 1 to get in there between the 2 and the 3? if so, i dont know what that means.. heh

thanks for the help..

gonzo

[allthumbs]

Originally Posted by gonzo

thanks thumbs,

i'm having a lot of fun learning. it seems i have been picking it up rather easily this time (as opposed to all the other times i've tried).

i'm confused about the bar chord layout you gave though. did you intend for that extra 1 to get in there between the 2 and the 3? if so, i dont know what that means.. heh

thanks for the help..

gonzo

Yup. It is just an easier way for folks with big fingers to do the top 3 strings of a barr chord. The index finger goes behind the second and third finger on the same fret. That means the two outside fingers can be very close together because the index finger is behind those two. Try it , it looks like this

__________
------1----
-----23----
__________
By dropping the index finger down one fret,leaving the other two where they are you get a major 7,lift the finger and you get a b7 chord. Fast and easy.
hope that is clearer for you.

[Kirk Lorange]

Hi gonzo.

It is a bit of a squeeze, isn't it. I don't even bother trying the major shape the way you've indicated. For that one I usually do a double barre: index barres the 2nd fret, the third finger barres the 4th fret, but just the top 4 strings. You can't let the treble E string ring though, unless it's a B6 you want to play. I very rarely play full 6 string chords, because I do find it gets all too cramped, but mainly because I like the economy of sound when you use fewer notes.

Stick at it, find your own way of playing these things. Remember that a chord is simply a grouping of notes ... so long as they are ringing, you're playing the chord.