Barre Chords

[Acuity]

Neil --

My fingers have gotten better/stronger as I practice barre chords, but I still have a big problem coordinating my last three fingers. As an intermediate step, when switching from a C to a F barre chord, I have been focusing solely on moving my middle finger up one string and then placing my ring finger and pinky down, not worrying about my index finger for now. The same switching from D to B minor - move my middle finger down one string and up one fret, then placing my pinky and ring finger down. In both cases, I make sure to keep/push my wrist down.

Is this an acceptable way to help train my fingers, or is leaving the index barre finger out of it for now, doing more harm than good in the long term?

Thanks.

[Chasplaya]

Neil generally recommends planting the Index finger of the Barre first. Whether your method will do you any harm well time will tell. I would practice planting the Index finger then add the others as your barre gets better.

[Acuity]

I'm not making enough progress with my last three fingers that way; that's why I asked about the alternative.

[Lavallee]

Hi Acuity, you mentioned that is not going fast enough, how long have you been practicing seriously your bar chords? Idealy Neil's approach seems to be always better on the long run. I sure can understand the frustration of things not falling into place as quickly as we like.

If I may suggest something I do, pratice alternating 2 chords (like the C and F)like you are doing but do it very slowly and increase the speed gradually.

Also Neil suggest to "pump" the chord when you are in position (alternating applying and releasing pressure). So if you a have a metronome. You could set it at a speed of 40 in 4/4 time (one beat per strum). When strumming, apply the pressure to your fingers (on the downstroke )making the chord and release it before the next strum (on the upstroke not touching the strings). So you do 4 strums with one chord and then at the 4th beat when you are releasing the pressure change to the bar chord. If you miss it (either partially or totally, keep strumming and continue placing your fingers. Eventually, you will land more rapidely all your fingers as the pumping of the chord will have help the muscle memory.

Marc

[ncsurfer]

Great idea Marc, I, too, have been struggling with a clean chord change and trying a new approach withe my metronome is in my game plan. I'm putting into practice as I type (or shortly after) Thanks!

[dennisg]

Acuity,

The way I originally learned to do barre chords was to practice playing an E and Am with my middle, ring, and pinky fingers. Once I was able to do that, adding the index-finger barre was simple. And when I was able to play barre chords comfortably, I went back to playing E and Am the traditional way.

- Dennis

[Music Junkie]

Acuity wrote:

Neil --

My fingers have gotten better/stronger as I practice barre chords, but I still have a big problem coordinating my last three fingers. As an intermediate step, when switching from a C to a F barre chord, I have been focusing solely on moving my middle finger up one string and then placing my ring finger and pinky down, not worrying about my index finger for now. The same switching from D to B minor - move my middle finger down one string and up one fret, then placing my pinky and ring finger down. In both cases, I make sure to keep/push my wrist down.

Is this an acceptable way to help train my fingers, or is leaving the index barre finger out of it for now, doing more harm than good in the long term?

Thanks.

Acuity:

I think what you are doing is fine. Slowing things down to get the muscle memory figured out is a great way to do it. Like Chas mentioned above, it is better when making the switch to plant the barre finger first so your chord changes sound more solid. However, as an intermediate, I think getting that little piece of the puzzle figured out ought to be helpful. When I am learning a new song that has tricky chord changes, I do that sort of thing as well. "Economy of Motion" does play into things. I would say once you get your last three fingers figured out, placing the barre down first ought to be pretty easy. That is how it came for me anyway. I had the same problem with the transition to the barre chords and still do from time to time. It gets better though.

MJ

[Acuity]

Thanks for the comment.

I have noticed that when switching from open C to F barre, that when my middle finger moves down and plants, it drags my ring and pinky fingers down a bit. Then, my ring and pinky have to move back up to properly hit the A and D strings. This leads to greater inaccuracy, and increased change time. As you might expect, switching from a C to an F minor is easier and quicker for me, because my middle finger is not moving down, and my ring and pinky fingers move directly to the correct spots.

Does anyone know of any exercises, with or without guitar, that would help train my fingers, to prevent this from happening?

Thanks.

[wrench]

Acuity wrote:

Thanks for the comment.

I have noticed that when switching from open C to F barre, that when my middle finger moves down and plants, it drags my ring and pinky fingers down a bit. Then, my ring and pinky have to move back up to properly hit the A and D strings. This leads to greater inaccuracy, and increased change time. As you might expect, switching from a C to an F minor is easier and quicker for me, because my middle finger is not moving down, and my ring and pinky fingers move directly to the correct spots.

Does anyone know of any exercises, with or without guitar, that would help train my fingers, to prevent this from happening?

Thanks.

You can exercise on a soft rubber ball pressing your fingers firmly into it one at a time. Planet Waves also makes a device called VariGrip that will help you with this. I think you're on the right track with this because I hit a wall on chord changes until I broke my fingers' affinity to each other.

[Acuity]

I have a squeeze ball and a medium tension Gripmaster; both work well at strengthening the fingers, but I have found neither provides any help at all for my problem.