[jimmyzowens]

im havin trouble playing the b chord in any form .??? im the one with the cut off index finger ........ yea i know its funny ,im laughin to lol
jimmy

[allthumbs]

Play part chords. There is no rule that says you have to hold a full barre chord. If you have enough of your index to fret the high E string and your third finger to cover the middle 3 strings at the fouth, then that is good enough.

[Matty22]

Ok, i dont want this to sound insensitive, and i do apologise if it comes off the wrong way.... BUT

If there you have a, for lack of a better word, stump instead of a index finger, perhaps you could get a slide(perhaps fabricate a wodden one), and fit that over the "stump" and A) use it to fret barre chords, and play slide

Again, i apologise if im just being sick, i dont mean to be, its kinda just my way

[737blues]

Just bar the D, G and B strings at the fourth fret and you will get a triad of F#, B & Eb, which is a V, I, III inversion of B and you can bar it with any finger. Personally, I think it sounds better with the F# on the top E string muted anyway. It is still a moveable chord too as long as you mute the E, A and top E strings. As AT points out, you don't need to play the full barre.

[Ben_Sir_Amos]

I think that you have to find more than one way of playing the B chord, or parts of it, to suit different songs. If you are just strumming then putting your index finger on the high E at the second fret will be fine with one, two or three fingers on the 2nd, 3rd and 4th strings at the 4th fret. But if you are playing a R'n'R shuffle thing, then you will be wanting to do a stretch with your pinky and, as I've just discovered, with your index on the high E at the second fret, your movement is restricted - so try alternatives. For example:

a) Try holding down the second string (A) at the second fret and holding down strings 3, 4 and 5 with your bent 3rd finger at the 4th fret. Don't worry about the high E: your other fingers can damp it. This leaves your pinky free.

b) Try hooking your thumb over to hold down the 6th and 5th strings (E and A) at the second fret and using your other fingers to make the rest of the chord at the 4th fret. Don't let any traditionalist guitar teachers see you using your thumb in this way. (j/k)

c) Try substituting a B7 in the open position.

There's two things to note here. First, it is important to nail the A chord shape at the second fret to play the B chord because you will be using this same shape at different frets for all kinds of different chords. Second, even people with a full set of digits find the B chord difficult when they are starting out. It's a long time since I was learning but I remember thinking it was impossible: now my fingers flop down in the right place without me thinking about it. Perhaps with a shorter first finger you will have to think about it a little, but not too much.

The other thing that helps is turning the amp up a bit more. It won't make playing the B chord any easier, but it's more fun learning when you are playing loud.

[jimmyzowens]

thx guys for all the help , good information for sure , oh and dont feel bad calling my stump a stump lmao ...........
im missing my index almost half and half an inch off my thumb on the same hand so the reach around is hard for me cause my thumb goes short

[Ben_Sir_Amos]

How about a bar across strings 2, 3 & 4 with your index finger at the 4th fret. Then use your 3rd finger to hold down the 5th string at the 6th fret. As you develop strength in your pinky, you can use it to add the 6th string at the 7th fret. You can skip the first string altogether. Using this shape would let you do twiddly bits with fingers 2, 3 & 4 as long as you have the bar across strings 2, 3 & 4.

[jimmyzowens]

i dont mean to sound stupid but can u send me a pic or tab of the chord you are describing .........lol i are a dumb ironworker lol no just kidding but i am a more of a see it guy rather than read it im a little dislexic ( see i cant even spell that word lol)

[Ben_Sir_Amos]

[Matty22]

perhaps im wrong, but isnt that a B/D#?

[allthumbs]

Originally Posted by Matty22

perhaps im wrong, but isnt that a B/D#?

Yup. Or a Gm7

[jimmyzowens]

thx guys i need all the help i can get lol

[tonedeaf]

Have you considered playing left-handed? If that is a possibility then finger picks could be used. Good luck.

[jimmyzowens]

i thought of that but that means all new guitars and starting all over man what a pain ????????????
what do you guys think ?

[Ben_Sir_Amos]

Originally Posted by Matty22

perhaps im wrong, but isnt that a B/D#?

You can call it what you want to - but what I was telling jimmyzowens was, do this first and then "As you develop strength in your pinky, you can use it to add the 6th string at the 7th fret"