Hi Guys:
Ive been working hard the past couple weeks on changing to an Fchord quickly - I'm trying to play Don't Fear The Reaper using the open chord pre-chorus instead of the power cords. It seems pretty quick compared to what I'm used to and i just cant quite get that F down fast enough!!! - there is always something that challenges us eh??
My question is do you experts out there put your pinky and 3rd fingers down first or the bar for chords like F to make a change at optimum speed ?
Ive been doing some reasearh on this and ive read alot that the other fingers should go down before the bar because if the bar goes down first it can induce tension.
It took me a solid 6 months to get the bar down then a further 3 to learn to change to it at a moderate pace now I'm trying to change quicker for songs like DFTR - are there any exercises or other songs that could get me changing to full F quicker. And if one technique is quicker I would like to know so i can practice that one.
Ive been playing for about a year now from a total beginner standard
Thanks again for the help
Tom
Fast change to a full F chord?
Tom,
I'll tell you how I went about it, but with this one caveat: what worked for me isn't necessarily correct or even the best way. But it did work for me.
When I wanted to learn a barred F, I started playing an E chord with my middle, ring, and pinky fingers instead of the normal three fingers. I finally got to the point that I could use those three fingers as effortlessly as the other three, and after that, adding the barre (index finger) was fairly easy. I did the same thing with A and Am chords.
To answer your other question about which fingers to lay down first, I put the three fingers in position a fraction of a second before I lay down the barre.
Hope this helps.
I'll tell you how I went about it, but with this one caveat: what worked for me isn't necessarily correct or even the best way. But it did work for me.
When I wanted to learn a barred F, I started playing an E chord with my middle, ring, and pinky fingers instead of the normal three fingers. I finally got to the point that I could use those three fingers as effortlessly as the other three, and after that, adding the barre (index finger) was fairly easy. I did the same thing with A and Am chords.
To answer your other question about which fingers to lay down first, I put the three fingers in position a fraction of a second before I lay down the barre.
Hope this helps.
Tom, I agree with Dennis that sometimes we develop our own approach and as long as it does not cause any problems in all situations, it is fine. I used to clamp the whole bar at once but realized that I was not landing the same way all the time especially when quick changes were required, often giving a muted or dead string sound. Neil suggests to put the index first since the root note is normally hit first, giving you time to place the other fingers, I am using this approach now and finds that the landings are cleaner. Not sure how the bar first could create some tension as you saw in your research
An exercise you could try is to alternate between an open C and a F bar using a metronome. Start with 2 measures on open C and 2 measures on F, when comfortable increase the speed of the metronome, then do 1 measure of each, then 1/2 a measure for each, Change the open C for open G.
It is important to keep in mind that in the transition between the 2 chords you can hit all the open strings to give you time to move from one chord to the other
Love Don't fear the reaper
Marc
An exercise you could try is to alternate between an open C and a F bar using a metronome. Start with 2 measures on open C and 2 measures on F, when comfortable increase the speed of the metronome, then do 1 measure of each, then 1/2 a measure for each, Change the open C for open G.
It is important to keep in mind that in the transition between the 2 chords you can hit all the open strings to give you time to move from one chord to the other
Love Don't fear the reaper
Marc
Tom- the most important, and most difficult, part of a barre chord is the index finger barre itself. If you don't do anything else right, you must get that index finger in the correct spot with the correct pressure.
Neil teaches that our fingers should go down in the order we need them. But a barre on a fast paced song like DFTR doesn't give you enough time to be that deliberate. It simply comes down to having that E- shape down pat and being able to hit it simulataneously with the index finger.
I know it's a pain in the rear to learn barre chords but just remember that everyone who plays the guitar, well maybe those that use barre chords, had to learn these damned things at one point! And everyone of us struggled. It just isn't natural.
But now, I don't even think about it anymore it so natural. Even the much more difficult A-shape barre are pretty natural.
Good luck Tom! You'll get it. Just stay at it because it's worth the effort! :cheer:
Neil teaches that our fingers should go down in the order we need them. But a barre on a fast paced song like DFTR doesn't give you enough time to be that deliberate. It simply comes down to having that E- shape down pat and being able to hit it simulataneously with the index finger.
I know it's a pain in the rear to learn barre chords but just remember that everyone who plays the guitar, well maybe those that use barre chords, had to learn these damned things at one point! And everyone of us struggled. It just isn't natural.
But now, I don't even think about it anymore it so natural. Even the much more difficult A-shape barre are pretty natural.
Good luck Tom! You'll get it. Just stay at it because it's worth the effort! :cheer:
Barre first.
Might try this, with this reasoning. The highest tension point is on the first fret. Start off like Dennis suggest, the correct fingering for the barre in Am, E, etc.
Start practicing those Barre chords further 'up', like on the third or fourth fret, then once you get the hang of it there, move them "Down", towards the first fret.
Might try this, with this reasoning. The highest tension point is on the first fret. Start off like Dennis suggest, the correct fingering for the barre in Am, E, etc.
Start practicing those Barre chords further 'up', like on the third or fourth fret, then once you get the hang of it there, move them "Down", towards the first fret.
Try working on Sister Golden Hair, I have been using it to get barre chords down. It starts at the fourth fret on c#m then moves to A at the fifth fret. has worked great for me for getting better at landing those darn things, also let's you slide up the neck in the E shape with the other three fingers as mentioned above. I have been working on these daily for about six months and just starting to get somewhat ok with them but need to warm up, can't just pick up the guitar and play them. Anyone else have to warm up before hitting barre chords? Sorry don't mean to hijack !
Mark
Mark
My practice has large chunk of barre chord boot camp at the moment.
In addition to everything else that people have said here, I am finding Neil's pulsing technique really helpful too. Make the chord shape and then press and release the tension in your left hand while still keeping your fingers in contact with the strings. I'm finding that it's building the strength of my hand.
Once I've warmed up my hand a little on one barre chord, I pick the hardest changes and then keep switching between chords 2 at a time until I get bored. So it goes something like this - A (at the 5th fret), A, A, A, C# (at the 4th fret), C#, C#, C#, C#; or F (at the 1st), F, F, F, C, C, C, C - with each chord being worth a beat/pulse. Just keep your right hand strumming in a regular way or all downs, or don't even both strumming at all. Do it as slowly as you need to to make the change work OK and don't worry if it takes you a pulse or 2 to curl your fingers into place once the barre is down.
With all the advice here already you'll be switching quickly before you know it. And be patient with your self, as Bear said (thank the Goddess) this is hard and takes time to become normal.
Michele
In addition to everything else that people have said here, I am finding Neil's pulsing technique really helpful too. Make the chord shape and then press and release the tension in your left hand while still keeping your fingers in contact with the strings. I'm finding that it's building the strength of my hand.
Once I've warmed up my hand a little on one barre chord, I pick the hardest changes and then keep switching between chords 2 at a time until I get bored. So it goes something like this - A (at the 5th fret), A, A, A, C# (at the 4th fret), C#, C#, C#, C#; or F (at the 1st), F, F, F, C, C, C, C - with each chord being worth a beat/pulse. Just keep your right hand strumming in a regular way or all downs, or don't even both strumming at all. Do it as slowly as you need to to make the change work OK and don't worry if it takes you a pulse or 2 to curl your fingers into place once the barre is down.
With all the advice here already you'll be switching quickly before you know it. And be patient with your self, as Bear said (thank the Goddess) this is hard and takes time to become normal.
Michele
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neverfoundthetime
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Tom, I only read Dennis' answer here so I don't know if I'm conflicting with others but I identify with Dennis' approach. Learning the E chord with Middle, ring and little finger (pinky) is a grerat way to set up the F barre. I took a close look at what I do: I place the middle finger first (that's the anchore), then the ring and pinky then the barre. Still, the change to the barre F is still the slowest change for me... even after all these years... but I'm quick enough and if I have to be quicker, then I go for the baseball grip which is how I originally learned to do the F.
PS: er, what's DFTR.... Dont' F The Rain??
PS: er, what's DFTR.... Dont' F The Rain??
Tom, I learned to play the barre F by playing the Grateful Dead song Sugaree. the song involves many C to F Changes over and over.... I notice that when I do this, I leave my ring finger planted on the 5th string 3rd fret.... C..... and I sort of use this as a pivot point. When I go to the F I use that ring finger as a constant but I throw down the rest of the fingers... (index finger barre included) simultaneously. Hope this helps. Beaker.