Barre Chord advice?

HypodermicMD

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It seems ridiculous, because barre chords are about the easiest in the world, but my fingers are NOT long enough to do them or something. The two lowest strings are fine, but the other two aren't held down enough. I can't even hold down the last two as part of a chord with one finger. All I get is fret buzz and nastiness when I try. The only way I seem to be able to do them is if I use my thumb and middle finger, which is pretty much useless. Urg.

Anyone have any tips on how they play these?
 
if you have your middle finger free for certain chords, you can use it to assist your index finger. its sometimes called piggybacking.

so basically, your index finger is creating the barre and your middle finger is right on top of it, applying extra pressure for a clean sound.

if your middle finger is not free, study the fingering positions. the strings that arent being fretted by the other fingers are the only ones you need to concentrate on with your barre finger. so on a B chord, you only have to concentrate on applying pressure to the E and A strings, because the other two are taken care of by other fingers. on a D7, you only have to worry about barring the GCE strings, because the A string is fretted by the middle finger... etc.

other than that... practice.
 
Is the first digit of your thumb resting against the back of neck allowing you squeeze the strings between the index finger and thumb? I have small hands and the short fingers that come with them. It's the only way I feel comfortable and can barre any chords.
 
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