Which is harder for beginners? Bb or barred D7?

If you want to know what it is like to start all over again playing chords just flip over your ukulele and try playing left handed.
You will find out immediately which chord is easiest.
 
As Chris pointed out, a lot of guitar students give up when they get to the analogous F barre chord. Well one difference for ukulele students trying to learn a Bb barre is that there are seem to be a lot more really cheap ukes out there than cheap guitars- or at least ukes with really poor setups. High action at the nut can make playing first fret barre chords really difficult. I had someone play one of my ukes the other day, and he commented on how easy it was to play. In this case that's because I set the action at the nut to 0.020", while most ukes are set to 0.030" or even more. That slight difference of 0.010" or 0.020" can make a LOT of difference when you're learning.
 
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