Partial and Full Barre

[tovo]

Hey Neil and anyone else who has an opinion:

I'm working on a finger-picking tune that requires a number of partial barres. They are F# minor, B minor and G. The F# minor is definitely best played as a partial barre, but I find it just as easy to play full Barres on B minor and G, even though only partial barres are needed. The song doesn't matter, my question is, is there any reason not to play the full barres provided they are nice and clear? I figure that playing the full barre is good practice for other tunes, even if they aren't needed for this one.

As an example, on Hallelujah in the intro there's an e minor that I always finger even though you could play it without your left hand on the fretboard at all and get the same notes. It just seems easier to finger the chord.

So back to my question, is there any real good reason not to grab the full barre even though a partial will do the job?

By the way, I asked Bear this question and he came back with a really thorough, informative response so big thanks to him. I just thought I would post this question to get some wider input. I also PMed Neil but understand he is as busy as a one legged man in an arse kicking contest so that was a bad idea. This is the place to get an answer. Cheers all.

[d_dog]

Tovo, excellent question man, I can't wait to hear Neil's take on it. I often grab the whole barre as well in many cases. I guess my answer would be it's a song be song case. There maybe a particular song where a partial barre is best because of the hand position that it affords you. There may be a case where you need a partial barre position because you need your hand to been in such a position that you can reach up with your pinky and grab the A or E string for whatever reason. And possibly, considering you're talking about a picking song, you may need the un-barre'd strings as bass notes for your thumb. Again this would be a song by song case.
Really great question man, can't wait to get some feedback.

[Chasplaya]

I'd say it entirely depend on the song and the progression of chords, if a partial barre leads better into the next chord then thats the way to go, if not then full barre ahead!!

[tovo]

d_dog wrote:

Tovo, excellent question man, I can't wait to hear Neil's take on it. I often grab the whole barre as well in many cases. I guess my answer would be it's a song be song case. There maybe a particular song where a partial barre is best because of the hand position that it affords you. There may be a case where you need a partial barre position because you need your hand to been in such a position that you can reach up with your pinky and grab the A or E string for whatever reason. And possibly, considering you're talking about a picking song, you may need the un-barre'd strings as bass notes for your thumb. Again this would be a song by song case.
Really great question man, can't wait to get some feedback.

Thanks Dog, I agree with you it's all about hand position for the next chord. Thanks for taking the time.

[mark]

I agree with Chas, it depends on the actual song.
Go with what feels best for that song.

I can think of two reasons why you would finger the Em chord even though you don't need it.
Firstly if you were to make a mistake and hit the A or D string, then at least the note would be in tune.

Also say the previous chord you played was an A, when you get to the Em chord, the open A string may still be ringing and would sound wrong against the Em chord. By fretting the notes you will stop them ringing.
This exact thing happened on one of my songs and it didn't sound right until I fretted the Em even though I wasn't playing any of the fretted notes.

[AndyT]

I've heard it said that you play the chord anyway because the strings are going to vibrate and you want them humming the chord. Also, what if you miss? Then your still in the right chord.

[tovo]

Thanks guys. What I take from this is that there's no reason not to finger a full barre if it doesn't complicate the change for the next chord.

[BigBear]

tovo wrote:

Thanks guys. What I take from this is that there's no reason not to finger a full barre if it doesn't complicate the change for the next chord.

Or your bass line.

[reiver]

For me it would be important to hit the chord, even if you don't need to, because it lets us keep account of exactly where our LH is. If we completely release the LH from contact with the strings then it becomes harder to re-locate it to the next chord that we have to hit.

All the previous points are perfectly valid too.

r

[tovo]

Thanks Stuart for taking the time, and others also.

I think I kinda confused the issue by throwing in the E Chord example. My main question is about my choice to use a full Barre Chord in preference to a partial, even though the full is not needed. That's my main query.