The B Chord

Neil replies to questions from our members.
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Sun May 10, 2009 9:55 am

From starfighter51

neil, good morning , i'm having trouble finding a b chord all i can find in the books is b flat, but i'm not talking about a bar b. thank's jim greene
Neil's response

The B chord is one of the chords that really needs to be played as a bar, along with F. There is not a good way to play an open B chord so the common choices are an 'A' shape (or family) at the 2nd fret or an 'E' shape at the 7th fret.

The major shape from the 'A' family of chords presents its own fingering problems and the 2 best solutions are barring the 2nd, 3rd, & 4th strings with your 3rd finger, being careful not to mute the 1st string, or to use your 2nd, 3rd, & 4th fingers on the 4th, 3rd, & 2nd strings, which can be a tight squeeze and a bit of a stretch from the bar to your 2nd finger.

The first method is used commonly by many guitar players, and some of them are not concerned about the 1st string being played clearly. The second method is more common among classical guitarists, partly because the clarity of every note is very important in the style.

Neil