Barring on the 10th fret and up on a tenor . . .

teryg

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So I'm learning Ashoken Farewell on my new tenor and it has a barre chord at the 10th fret. I have small hands, but I cannot seem to fit my finger inside that fret. I know it must be doable, but wow, it seems hard. Much easier on the baritone, but I want to play it on the tenor! How on earth do people with large hands do it?
 
So I'm learning Ashoken Farewell on my new tenor and it has a barre chord at the 10th fret. I have small hands, but I cannot seem to fit my finger inside that fret. I know it must be doable, but wow, it seems hard. Much easier on the baritone, but I want to play it on the tenor! How on earth do people with large hands do it?
Practice is how.

Sometimes there are no shortcuts. :- )
 
Would it be possible to play a 4 finger chord or substitute chord? What are the notes?

Hmmm . . . maybe. The notes (if I can still read music properly--I'm out of practice and tab has made me lazy) are A#, D#, E, and A (chord says Bbmaj7). Then high B, then high A. You barre the 10th fret, and play notes on the 12th and 13th frets. It does seem like something I should be able to do. I like the sound when I manage to get it.

I know . . . with practice.
 
I studied privately for 2.5 years and my teacher suggested using 4 four fingers at the upper end of the neck. The frets being closer together made for a fuzzier sound when I would barre up there. I use the four finger technique most of the time.
 
I studied privately for 2.5 years and my teacher suggested using 4 four fingers at the upper end of the neck. The frets being closer together made for a fuzzier sound when I would barre up there. I use the four finger technique most of the time.

That fuzzier, or sometimes deader, sound is what I'm getting.

I'll try to learn both ways, and I'll pay more attention to what people are doing on their videos.
 
You don't need to get your finger "inside" the fret, by which I believe that you mean between the actual fret wires .As long as you stop the strings at the 10th what happens below doesn't really matter and that leaves your three other digits to dance around above the stopped fret. That is IF understand you correctly ,if not then I shall continue over here ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................to the naughty boy's corner.
 
Is this the chord you want to make? This is a Bbmaj7 at the 10th.
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It says to barre the 10th with your index but I find it easier to use my middle finger.
Also, I tend to rotate my finger when I barre chords. Not for space but for consistency in clarity and ease. I tend to rotate my finger away my thumb when I barre which causes my hand to "open up to fretboard" more and make it easier to note other frets without my hand or fingers getting in the way, this is more important as your left hand gets closer to the uke body.
My biggest suggestion, don't always follow the way a chord diagram states you should finger the chords. You might need to alter your fingering on a chord for different songs depending on what is coming before and after that chord, as well.
My :2cents:
 
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You don't need to get your finger "inside" the fret, by which I believe that you mean between the actual fret wires .As long as you stop the strings at the 10th what happens below doesn't really matter and that leaves your three other digits to dance around above the stopped fret. That is IF understand you correctly ,if not then I shall continue over here ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................to the naughty boy's corner.

That's true and I'll keep it in mind as I try to work out how to best play things like this.
 
Is this the chord you want to make? This is a Bbmaj7 at the 10th.
View attachment 93719
It says to barre the 10th with your index but I find it easier to use my middle finger.
Also, I tend to rotate my finger when I barre chords. Not for space but for consistency in clarity and ease. I tend to rotate my finger away my thumb when I barre which causes my hand to "open up to fretboard" more and make it easier to note other frets without my hand or fingers getting in the way, this is more important as your left hand gets closer to the uke body.
My biggest suggestion, don't always follow the way a chord diagram states you should finger the chords. You might need to alter your fingering on a chord for different songs depending on what is coming before and after that chord, as well.
My :2cents:


Yes, that's the chord. Doesn't look difficult at all, does it? :)

I'm going to keep everything people said here in mind and just work on that chord and the ones surrounding it for a little while, see if I can get that down. It's really the only part of the song I'm tripping over.
 
Not sure what size uke you're on, but I thought I'd see how difficult it is - I'm no strummer, but I didn't have too much difficulty on my long neck soprano.

Either use your index finger with your middle finger on top to help press the strings down, or roll your index finger/hand toward the sound hole & have your thumb support move about 4 frets back down the fretboard, both worked for me. :)
 
The one that's giving me difficulty is the tenor. I was just practicing a bit and paid attention to the fact that as long as I'm hitting that 10th fret, it doesn't matter exactly where my finger is. That worked better for me. I'm also going to mess around with different finger positioning. It's always helpful to be able to do things different ways.
 
It sounds like it will just come down to practice. I would barre the 10th fret with the index finger, paying special attention to the 4th, 3rd, & 2nd strings, there is no real need to fret the 1st string with the barre and it will be easier to form the chord if you don't. Then fret the 1st string 12 fret using your ring finger (not the middle finger).
 
I am taking lessons from Craig Chee and Sarah Maisel on Artist Works and Craig gave a wonderful tip for barring chords. He shows it on a video, but I will take a stab at putting it in writing.

With your right fore arm, where you hold the ukulele to your chest, squeeze it tighter to your body (obviously not hard enough to damage the ukulele ;) ). When you do this, you will notice that the neck of your ukulele will naturally move away from your body. Use this pressure coming from the neck to help make a clean barre. It takes a lot of strain off the fingers. I am actually able to barre chords so easily using this method that I can take my thumb off the back of the neck and still get a clean sound (I don't while I am playing, it just shows how little thumb pressure I need to use when I use the strength of my right fore arm). I hope I described it well enough to help. If not, let me know and I can try to clarify.

Now, your specific request is for a barre higher up the next, so physics will tell us the force will be less, but it still does help that far up the neck.
 
I am taking lessons from Craig Chee and Sarah Maisel on Artist Works and Craig gave a wonderful tip for barring chords. He shows it on a video, but I will take a stab at putting it in writing.

With your right fore arm, where you hold the ukulele to your chest, squeeze it tighter to your body (obviously not hard enough to damage the ukulele ;) ). When you do this, you will notice that the neck of your ukulele will naturally move away from your body. Use this pressure coming from the neck to help make a clean barre. It takes a lot of strain off the fingers. I am actually able to barre chords so easily using this method that I can take my thumb off the back of the neck and still get a clean sound (I don't while I am playing, it just shows how little thumb pressure I need to use when I use the strength of my right fore arm). I hope I described it well enough to help. If not, let me know and I can try to clarify.

Now, your specific request is for a barre higher up the next, so physics will tell us the force will be less, but it still does help that far up the neck.

Good tip. That's one I've never heard before. I'm going to try it and see what happens.
 
So I'm learning Ashoken Farewell on my new tenor and it has a barre chord at the 10th fret. I have small hands, but I cannot seem to fit my finger inside that fret. I know it must be doable, but wow, it seems hard. Much easier on the baritone, but I want to play it on the tenor! How on earth do people with large hands do it?

Hey teryg! Sorry I've got no good advice, but it sounds like you've gotten some already. I was wondering where you got your arrangement for Ashoken Farewell? I would LOVE to learn that song!

Practicing my barre at the tenth in anticipation...
 
Hey teryg! Sorry I've got no good advice, but it sounds like you've gotten some already. I was wondering where you got your arrangement for Ashoken Farewell? I would LOVE to learn that song!

Practicing my barre at the tenth in anticipation...

Ukulele Mike has a sale on his books. It's in one of those. It's not a very complicated arrangement. You can probably find him playing it on YouTube. So far, I'm pleased with the books. There are songs I can play now and plenty of songs for a beginner to grow into.
 
Ukulele Mike has a sale on his books. It's in one of those. It's not a very complicated arrangement. You can probably find him playing it on YouTube. So far, I'm pleased with the books. There are songs I can play now and plenty of songs for a beginner to grow into.

Thanks for the reply! Was already considering Ukulele Mike's books. Now I think I'm tipping over the edge :)
 
Good tip. That's one I've never heard before. I'm going to try it and see what happens.

I am taking lessons from Craig Chee and Sarah Maisel on Artist Works and Craig gave a wonderful tip for barring chords. He shows it on a video, but I will take a stab at putting it in writing.

With your right fore arm, where you hold the ukulele to your chest, squeeze it tighter to your body (obviously not hard enough to damage the ukulele ;) ). When you do this, you will notice that the neck of your ukulele will naturally move away from your body. Use this pressure coming from the neck to help make a clean barre. It takes a lot of strain off the fingers. I am actually able to barre chords so easily using this method that I can take my thumb off the back of the neck and still get a clean sound (I don't while I am playing, it just shows how little thumb pressure I need to use when I use the strength of my right fore arm). I hope I described it well enough to help. If not, let me know and I can try to clarify.

Now, your specific request is for a barre higher up the next, so physics will tell us the force will be less, but it still does help that far up the neck.

Going to give that a try. One of the problems I have with barring has to do with my index finger. Both index fingers are curved slightly inward. My right is worse. I usually play a full barre chord with my middle finger. Always looks like I'm flipping someone off!!!!
 
An interesting thing solved the problem. I changed strings. I didn't like the sound of the ones that were on the uke anyway, and I played the baritone then the tenor one day and realized the tenor was a lot harder to play. My fingers got sore fast. Duh! I always played strings that are on the lighter side and the strings on the tenor were not light strings. Just put some Living Water strings on. I think I like them. Hard to tell when strings are brand new. I like them better than the ones that were on the uke for sure, and they're a *lot* easier to play.
 
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