I have a problem with barre chords HELP !!!!
I am working on a song that has C#-G#-F# in it and I need to cover all six strings with my index finger. my finger isnt long enough to do it properly I can do 5 just fine but when i try the low E I get G-B-E muffled and when I push real hard either G or B gets muffled I am so frustrated I have been trying for an hour GRRRR I even looked at diffrent variations but I dont think it will sound right
please any help would be great. do i just need to keep trying it ?? am I doing something wrong??
also I was wondering if my frets are a bit worn would that possibly cause this issue?? like i said I can do 5 strings no prob just can't get the sixth one.
please any help would be great. do i just need to keep trying it ?? am I doing something wrong??
also I was wondering if my frets are a bit worn would that possibly cause this issue?? like i said I can do 5 strings no prob just can't get the sixth one.
Comments
I am suprised on how many diffrent ways you can play the same chord how does anyone remember them all?? or do you just find ones ya like and then use them.
also when they look like its a chord but is higher do they call it anything diffrent I noticed some that had to be a octave or more higher because of where they were played
Just hang in there spud and keep doing.. It will come... Atleast that is what people tell me.. And it's been 30 yrs .. But I keep trying :shock: :roll: :P To steal a Cher qoute... Face it mate, if it came in a bottle. We'd all be smokin the fret board! LoL
I don't know how long you been playing, but also you may have to look at your guitar perhaps the neck radius just don't work for you, due to your physical attributes? Hey just a thought. Go spend a day at the local GC or what ever playing any and all types of guitars. You just may stumble accross one that makes you qoute Goldie Locks \" This one is just Right!\" LoL
Hang in there spud Just like body sculpting .. no pain no gain.. But unlike body building you want muscle memory ( in them fingers!) If you play it, they will come!
I also learned about string height and truss rod and stuff this time I may have had a ok guitar back then just really in bad need of some tuning Ill never know. ya I think ill look up specs on this too its a Ibanez RG 270 I think some weird radius on the frets like 430mm or something. I am wondering should I look for a thinner as in not as wide neck I dont think the thickness would matter would it I am also bleesed with sausage fingers so I got to be careful not to get the neck too thin (not wide enough) or ill have a hard time with open strings being muffled. thanks for the help again
My approach is to start smaller for purposes of practice. For example, here's a melodically-pleasing exercise I suggest to beginners, using only three strings. Use only your index finger of the left hand to bar each fret on strings D, G, B. Play slowly and make sure each note rings out.
[code:1]
E|
B|
2-4
5-7
8-10
12-13
15-
G|---2
4
5
7
8
10
12
13----15-
D|-2
4-5
7-8
10-12
13-15-
A|
E|
[/code:1]
If you're hearing that some of the notes don't ring, adjust your left-hand technique. Perhaps you need to bend your index finger out less (are you double-jointed?) or maybe it needs to roll on the side counter-clockwise a bit.
Address these issues, then try this four-string exercise; it's less melodically pleasing but good practice. Bar the 5th fret on strings A, D, G, B; then let as many notes ring as possible. One of the purposes, besides getting used to holding the barre, is to make sure that adding notes on frets above the bar does not mute the barred notes.
[code:1]
E|
B|
5-7
7-5
G|
5
5-7-8
5-7-8
5
D|---5
5-7
5-6
5---
A|-5
5-8
5-
E|
[/code:1]
Did you break the barre on the 5th fret at any point? Notice why it happened. It might be because you added more fingers on other frets, and that caused the position of your index finger to move. The first exercise would not tell you that. The solution would be to always put your index finger in a position where it moves the least and still gets all the frets down at all times.
You can keep doing this for 5- and 6-string barres (just make them up really), but eventually your goal is to, really, play your progression for all six strings, and be able to isolate why some strings become muted. Then come up with an exercise that addresses just that problem, starting on as few as three or four strings, and continue on to five and six.
Also keep in mind - this is something one of my teachers pointed out to me - everybody's hands are different, and the physiology of the hands changes over the years. I was in my early 20s, and he was in his mid 50s. He has small, fat hands. My hands are slightly bigger and very slim. He barred some things I couldn't do very well, but then there were chords that I fretted my way and he'd say, \"Damn dude! My fingers don't fold like that!\" So y'know, figure out your individual way to address the problem - and figure out what exactly the problem is, first.
Index to middle is ok middle to ring is about 1/2 fret ring to pinky is real good so I guess i need to work on middle to ring and be ok I wonder if those springy finger exercises at Guitar Center are any good ??
Thanks again for that that will give me something to work on and i can find the weakness and maybe by training my finger muscles ill get past it I sure hope so I am really having fun and exited to get some songs down and then work on my own stuff.
Scale length in a guitar, is the length of the strings from the nut to the bridge saddle.
On your guitar, that measurement will be about 25.5\" (take a tape measure and see what I'm talking about)
A Gibson SG or Les Paul guitar will have a scale length of about 24.75\"
The Fender Jaguar and Mustang measures 24\"
A Gibson Byrdland measures 23.5\" (just to give some examples)
Go to a Guitar shop, and tell them you need to try out guitars with these scale lengths.
Many of the guitars mentioned above have sister guitars, which are more affordable. Made by Japanese or Korean companies, which are excellent quality, like Epiphone, Shecter, and others.
The shorter scale guitar will have frets closer together, and shorter the scale goes, closer the frets get. This is what helps small hands more than anything. The great guitarists who had small hands, also found a guitar scale which fit their hand best. Maybe some even had custom built, with personalized fretboard width, and neck profile.
(Kevin on Jay Leno show...has custom built guitars. He has gorilla hands, and his guitar neck is real wide. This does shape tone too. But that's another discussion)
One other thing you will notice, is the shorter scale guitar, also will have less string tension. You will feel a huge difference in less tension, between that 25.5\" scale length, and a 24.75\" scale length. Barre chords will be much easier to fret, and you won't be trying to stretch your fingers so far down or accross the neck, which also makes it harder to span your index finger to do barre shapes.
The stretching, strength, speed, dexterity, etc. exercises, we all have to apply ourselves to. Big or small hands. But you really need to get off that 25.5\" scale for now, until you build up your abilities. Later, you can tear up solos on that scale length.
To be honest, I'd keep that 25.5\" scale guitar to do your stretching exercises on. If you can do 1-3-5 fret triplets okay-like...then switch over to a 24\" or 24.75\"...you'll blaze effortlessly.
You just don't want that scale for your main axe. You need a guitar that is a proper fit. 8)