Chapter Eleven Bar Chords Your Private Guitar Teacher

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Chapter Eleven Bar Chords

Your Private Guitar Teacher

Copyright 2013 Dale Schmidt. All rights reserved. Duplication in any form in any media is illegal and strictly prohibited.

Your Private Guitar Teacher Chapter Eleven Bar Chords

page 130

Chapter Eleven Bar Chords Your Private Guitar Teacher

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Tips and Problem Solvers
Learning to play bar chords is a process. It takes time to train your fingers to do something that at first seems very unnatural and difficult. If youre a true beginner, you may want to work with this chapter after you get the basics. Just be sure you find your way back to this chapter sooner rather than later. Bar chords open up unlimited possibilities on the guitar.

Chapter Eleven Bar Chords

If there is a common thread that runs through my students, its the frustration that many of them feel when learning bar chords. Some of them have gone as far as to call bar chords the evil chords. Part of this is the fact that are very few things we do as human beings that requires the strength and positioning needed to play bar chords on guitar. The muscle that runs between on the inside palm of your hand from the thumb to your index finger (important for playing bar chords) doesnt get much of a work out when doing routine movements during the course of the day. At least not in the same way as playing bar chords. The good news is that bar chords are not as difficult as they seem when you first try to play them. You simply have to build the strength and dexterity needed to play them cleanly. If you would ask me if Ive had any students that simply could not play bar chords, the answer is yes. I would guess though, that its lower than 5%. Those students still learned to play and are quite happy making guitar music with first-position chords as there are tons of songs you can play using the basic chord positions. I want to take a moment to mention that some guitars (especially acoustic guitars with a high action) make it very difficult to play bar chords. Ive played hundreds of different guitars in my 15 years of teaching and I can remember a few that were simply in too bad of shape to allow bar chords. If your guitar is in this category, its a good idea to have a qualified repair person take a look at it. Your guitar could be out of adjustment, damaged in some way or simply not of enough of a quality guitar to play properly. Try to make this determination early so you dont spend too much time fighting a guitar that makes playing bar chords difficult.

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Tips and Problem Solvers
If you have trouble getting your pinky to do what you want it to when playing bar chords, youre not aloneall guitar players struggle with this at first. Keep your fingers arched so they dont touch unwanted strings. When using your first (index) finger to form the bar, rotate it slightly so the strings touch the outside edge of your finger where it is flatter and stronger. NOTE: The

Time to get started Take a look at the Am chord below. This is one of the easier chords to play and a chord found in thousands of songs.

A B
1 2 3

But what if the music calls for a Bm chord? You could jump to page 140 where youll see a list of chords, but if you take the time in this chapter and learn how create bar chords on your own, you wont have to rely on a book or chart every time a new chord comes up. How they are formed Bar chords are made by placing your index finger across all six strings (in some cases, just four or five strings), using the remaining fingers to form the rest of the chord. Heres is an example: The first chord above, Am, is played in first position. To play a Bm chord however, youll need to bar all six strings (with your index finger) at the 2nd fret and use your remaining three fingers to play the remaining notes of the chord. In essence, your first finger is taking the place of the nut and your remaining three fingers are playing the basic Am chord shape.

page margins are different on the left-hand pages so you can easily read the music and follow the lessons when this book is placed on a music stand.

A B
Nut This bar is your first (index) finger 2 3 4 The Am chord shape played with your middle, ring and pinky fingers.

Chapter Eleven Bar Chords Your Private Guitar Teacher

Notice above that both chords look basically the same, but the Bm is played two frets higher and the first finger covers all six strings at the 2nd fret. And your middle, ring and pinky fingers are used to play the Am shape. There is a way to play a Bm chord without using a bar chord: X X

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Tips and Problem Solvers
The best way to think of bar chords is they are chords that can be moved up and down the neck. Even when using the same bar chord position, when you move it up the neck it becomes a new chord. For example, the Em chord to the left becomes a Gm chord when you bar the third fret. Notice how you have to change the fingers you use to create the Em shape when it is a bar chord. Keep that pinky in the right place!

1 2 3 4

But there is no bass note in this chord and you have to be careful not to play the 5th and 6th strings as they are not part of the chord. A bar chord is better. Note: Playing bar chords for the first time can be difficult. Theyre not going to sound great right of the bat. This chapter will help you with the physical challenges of forming bar chords. Lets take a look at another example. The first chord below, Em, is played in first position.

B A

O O O

A
The Em chord (far left), becomes a Gm chord (left) when you bar on the 3rd fret and make the Em shape with your ring and pinky finger. 3 4

The chord next to it becomes a Gm chord when you bar the third fret and play the remaining notes with your third and fourth finger. Doing so creates a Gm chord. You can think of it as playing an Em chord (an Em shape) on the 3rd fretto create a Gm chord.

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Tips and Problem Solvers
Make sure that you take the time to understand the chromatic scale. On the piano, the chromatic scale moves up (or down) one key at a time including the black keys. The black keys are sharps (#) and flats (b). The white keys are the natural notes. Whenever you are moving one fret at a time, you are playing the chromatic scale. The same is true of bar chords. They change in the same way. In other words, moving up the neck one fret at a time: D to D# to E to F and so on.

Now youve played a Gm chord including the bass note for a nice full sound. If this and your other bar chords are not clear, and some strings sound muffled and dead, dont despair, theres help with that in this chapter. Remember: Throughout the book, Ive included Tips and Problem Solvers in the margins of the pages. Use them! Why you need bar chords There are hundreds of chords including basic minor and major chords that cant really be played well without using a bar chord. For example, how would you play an Ab chord? How about a C# chord? What fingering would you use for a Bbm7th? Bar chords open up a whole new world of guitar playing. And once you learn just a few positions, youre on way to learning them all. Bar chords are particularly helpful when playing different rhythms on the guitar because they give you control of all six strings. Learning bar chords, no matter how difficult it may seem at first, will help make you the great guitar player you want to be. In the long run, its much better to learn the basic bar chord positions that can be used for literally hundreds of bar chords. Lets take a look at how to play an G# chord using an E chord in the first position (next page). But first, a little more information about how bar chords are formed. I want to stop here for a second to talk about the chromatic scale. Dont let the name intimidate you. A chromatic scale is simply one note played after another. An example would be moving left to right, one key at a time (including the black keys) on the piano. Starting with the note C, a chromatic scale is as follows: C - C# - D - D# - E - F - F# - G - G# - A - A# - B - C On the guitar, each note on the chromatic scale above is one fret higher (or lower) than the previous one and follows the pattern above. C C# D D# E

Note: from now on in this chapter, chord diagrams are shown without string widths.

Chapter Eleven Bar Chords Your Private Guitar Teacher

And each chord is one fret higher (or lower) than the previous one: B A

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Tips and Problem Solvers
One of the challenges of playing bar chords is keeping your wrist straight. If you have a tendency to bend your wrist in an attempt to play a chord, focus on keeping it straight and let the fingers and thumb of your left hand do most of the work, not your wrist or arm. When moving up the neck with bar chords, keep your fingers close to the fret board and in the shape of the chord so you dont have to totally recreate the same bar chord each time you play it.

F#

2 3 4 3 4 3 4 2 2

So to play that G# chord, start with the basic E chord position (this time using your middle, ring and pinky finger to play it): B A

E
2

Next, move that E chord up four frets and bar across the 4th fret. This makes an G# chord (right).

G#

2 3 4

> > > > C - C# - D - D# - E - F - F# - G - G# - A - A# - B - C Using the diagram above, youve moved from E up four (frets) to G#. Now you have the basic E position moved up and all six strings barred on the 4th fret. This is a G# chord. A bit difficult to play at first but much easier than trying to play a G# chord in the first position. Plus, you get bass notes to work with and a nice full sound from the bar chord. Before I show you another example, heres more (and very important) info about the chromatic scale: you can name the notes (and chords) in sharps:

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Tips and Problem Solvers
If it helps, think of a note that is sharp or flat as a black key on the piano. For example, the black key between the notes C and D has two names: C# and Db. They are the same note. When using your index finger to bar across the strings, rotate it slightly so you touch the strings with the harder, outside edge of the finger, not the soft fleshy part. This will help you bar all six strings.

C - C# - D - D# - E - F - F# - G - G# - A - A# - B - C or in flats: C - Db - D - Eb - E - F - Gb - G - Ab - A - Bb - B - C Without going into music theory and a long explanation, I recommend that you learn both names for the same note. For example, C# is the same note as Db. Bb is the same note as A#. C - C# - D - D# - E - F - F# - G - G# - A - A# - B - C C - Db - D - Eb - E - F - Gb - G - Ab - A - Bb - B - C Important! There is no E# or Fb. And there is no B# or Cb. (Looking at the piano, the notes E an F dont have a black key between them, nor do B an C.) Youll never see sheet music or songs in guitar books that have E#, Fb, B# or Cb chords (or notes). They dont exist. I suggest to review all the information above until you have a good understanding of how it works before moving on. Crossroad If you just get cant going on bar chords (most true beginners dont tackle them until theyve played a while) jump to another chapter of your choosing. If you have a good understanding of bar chords and how they are played, continue on in this chapter. If youre already an ace at forming and playing bar chords, jump to another chapter of you choosing. How to overcome the physical challenge of playing bar chords Everyone struggles with forming bar chords at first. Ive had a number of students tell me My fingers just cant do that. The good news is, they all eventually learned to play bar chords. It takes some students longer than others, especially young students who may have not developed the strength needed to play bar chords cleanly. Note: I mentioned earlier in this chapter that your guitar might be making it difficult to play bar chords. Go back to Chapter Two to find out more. Its important that your thumb is in the proper position in order to create the strength you need to play bar chords cleanly. It should be nearly perpendicular to the neck and opposite your first finger (that is barring across all six strings to create the bar). Without using the guitar, squeeze the thumb of the left hand with your index finger to see how the muscles work together. Here are three bar chords you can try, F#m7, B7 and Fm. Its very common and totally expected that youll experience dead sounding strings when first forming bar chords. So keep at it and it will get easier and easier. Your left hand (the hand that plays chords), particularly will tire easy at first but within a short time youll develop the strength and muscle memory needed.

Chapter Eleven Bar Chords Your Private Guitar Teacher

Pay close attention to where to place the bar (your index finger) and what fingers are used to play the rest of the chord.

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Tips and Problem Solvers
Notice that you can play two completely different chords when barring on the 2nd fret. The F#m7 and B7 chords at the left use different fingers to create different chords. Most chords you play in the first position can be moved up to create a new chord. And dont forget your muscle memory that I talked about earlier in the book. Your fingers will remember where you placed then when playing a certain chord. Just make sure you practice enough to let your muscle memory go to work.

F#m7

B7

Fm

3 3 3 4

Its OK to cheat a little One of the first things to remember when playing bar chords is not all six strings have to be played at the same time. In fact, it can be more musical to play two or three sings only. Let me explain. You can create a tighter and more rhythmic sound by playing the bottom three strings only (the sixth, fifth and fourth string). In contrast, you will get a brighter and lighter sound by playing (strumming or finger picking) the three top strings only. Below is the tab for the F#m7 chord above, first playing the bottom three strings then the top three strings.

2 4 2

2 4 2

2 4 2

2 4 2

2 2 2

2 2 2

2 2 2

2 2 2

X X X X X X X X X X X X

X X X X X X X X X X X X

Note: To make things simple, Ive marked the tablature above with the notes of the F#m7 chord but also with Xs. This is to help you remember that you can play three strings at a time for any chord, not just bar chords. Listen to CD Cut 59 to see what the F#m7 chord sounds like, first playing the bottom (thickest) three strings, then the top (thinnest) three strings. Choosing to play only the bottom three strings or the top three strings can be very helpful when learning bar chords. My students make good use of the technique when learning bar chords especially if they cant get all the strings to sound good at first. I tell them to focus on the strings

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Tips and Problem Solvers
If you are in the processing of learning bar chords and cant get all six strings to sound good, focus on the three bottom stings, your sixth, fifth and fourth strings. Thats where your bass notes are found and those strings tend to make a fuller sound. Focus on making these three strings (marked in bold in the Am chord to the right) sound clean and clear when playing bar chords.

that are clean and clear and not play the strings that are muffled. You can play great guitar music with only two or three strings at times. Crossroads If youre looking for the way to play a particular chord as a bar chord, go to last pages in this chapter. If youre not sure about seventh (7th) chords, minor seventh (m7th) chords or other chord names, go to Chapter Six, Chords And How To Play Them. If youre still not ready to tackle bar chords, dont despair. Move to another chapter of your choice and take on bar chords later. If you want to learn more about bar chords, continue in this chapter. The bass note of the chord As I mentioned earlier, one the biggest reasons for using bar chords is you can include the bass note in the chord. (Remember the three things needed for music to be complete: chords, melody and bass notes.) Using a simple rule will tell you which string of a bar chord is the bass note: The bass note is the same as it is in the chords first (basic) position. As an example, the bass note for Am (basic position) and Bm (bar chord) is the same string, the fifth string. It is marked with a B. This is because both chords are played with the Am shape (but different fingers are used when playing the bar chord Bm as the first finger is needed to form the bar).

Am
A B
1 2 3

Bm
O A B

2 3 4

As another example, the bass note for Em (basic position) and Gm (bar chord) is the same sting, the sixth string. It is marked with a B. See the next page.

Chapter Eleven Bar Chords Your Private Guitar Teacher

Em
B A O O O B A

Gm

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Tips and Problem Solvers
If you focus on making the three bottom (bass) strings sound good in your bar chords, it will make it easier to use bass and alternate bass notes. Listen to CD Cut 60 where I play the two chords to the left using: Bass note, strum, alternate bass note, strum

The bass note (B) is the same for the two chords above because they both use the Em shape. No matter where you play this bar chord, the bass note is always the sixth string. Alternate bass notes in bar chords The same rule applies for alternate bass notes. However, using alternate bass notes in bar chords is for experienced players. My recommendation is to first learn how to play bar chords (you can cheat a little as I mentioned earlier in this chapter), then make use of the bass notes of the chords. Then, when you really get rolling, you can add alternate bass notes if you like. Remember: Throughout the book, Ive included Tips and Problem Solvers in the margins of the pages. They will help you with this and all the other chapters. More about bar chords You can use all the techniques in this book when playing bar chords including the strum patterns and finger picking patterns from a number of the other chapters. Be patient. Like many things about learning guitar, it may take a while to be able to play bar chords. Keep at it until you build up your strength and your muscle memory takes over. The next page has a number of chords that can be created with the Am position. Page 141 has a list of first position chords that can be used to create new chords by moving up the neck using the chromatic scale as a guide. Keep this book handy so you can create the bar chords you need so you

wont have to give up on a great song because you dont know the chord!

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Tips and Problem Solvers
The numbers to the left of the bar tell you which fret to bar your index finger across. This chart is the Am chord position moved up one fret at a time. This is the way all bar chords are created. Most first position chords can be moved up to create a new (bar) chord. Each fret is one step on the chromatic scale. 8

Am

A#m/Bbm

Bm

Cm

C#m/Dbm
5

Dm
6

D#m/Ebm
7

Em

Fm
9

F#m/Gbm
10

Gm
11

G#m/Abm

The bar chords above were created (moved up or down the neck) based on the notes of the chromatic scale: C - C# - D - D# - E - F - F# - G - G# - A - A# - B - C But since I started with an Am chord, it will be easier to understand by looking at same scale begining with A: A - A# - B - C - C# - D - D# - E - F - F# - G - G# - A

Chapter Eleven Bar Chords Your Private Guitar Teacher

The following basic (first position) chords can be moved up the neck in the same way using the chromatic scale to determine the name of the bar chord created. The chromatic scale is shown on the previous page as a reminder.

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Tips and Problem Solvers
Some examples: this chord played (barred) on the 3rd fret creates a Gm6 chord. This chord played (barred) on the 5th fret will create a D7sus4 chord.

Am

Amaj7

Em

Em6

E9

Cmaj7

D7

A7sus4

A7

Em7

Dm

Remember that each time you move a bar chord up one fret, use the chromatic scale to tell you what the newly created chord is called. The chromatic scale is shown on the previous page and in many places throughout this book.

Remember: youll be using your first (index) finger to play the bar for these chords so youll have to use your three remaining fingers to form the rest of the bar chords. On the next page, youll find a chord progression to help you get used to recognizing, forming and playing bar chords. Listen to CD Cut 61 as I play the bar chords in the first line.

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Tips and Problem Solvers
These bar chords use some of the chords positions from the previous page. This is advanced stuff so make it a goal to play all of these down the roadnot right off the bat. Use these as the basis to find all the bar chords you need. Move them up and down according to the chromatic scale. Youre going to find that your chording (left) hand might tire quickly. Take a break frequently but keep at it to build up the strength you need.

Strum each four times. Use the info in this chapter to form these chords.

Bm

G
5 2

Am
7

Em

Bm7

F#m

2 2 3 4 3 4 3 4 3

2 3 4

3 4

Am position Bar - 2nd fret

E position Bar - 3rd fret

Em position Bar - 5th fret

Am position Bar - 7th fret

Am7 position Bar - 2nd fret

Em position Bar - 2nd fret

Gm
5

Dm

Cmaj7
5 2 3 4 2 3 4

Fmaj7

Am7
5

C7sus4

3 4

3 3 4

2 3

Em position Bar - 3rd fret

Am position Bar - 5th fret

Amaj7 position Bar - 3rd fret

Cmaj7 position Bar - 5th fret

Em7 position Bar - 5th fret

A7sus4 position Bar - 3rd fret

C#m

G#

F#m

B7
7

E7
5

2 3 4 2 3 4 3 4 2 3 4 3 4 3 4

Am position Bar - 4th fret

E position Bar - 4th fret

Em position Bar - 2nd fret

A7 position Bar - 2nd fret

A7 position Bar - 7th fret

E position Bar - 5th fret

Bb7

Fm
6

Ebm

Ab

G
8

3 4 3 4

2 2 2 3 4 3 4 3 4

A7 position Bar - 1st fret

Em position Bar - 1st fret

Am position Bar - 6th fret

E position Bar - 4th fret

E position Bar - 3rd fret

E position Bar - 8th fret