Bar Chords - what the heck?

[ElVerde42]

OK I know people can play bar (barre?) chords or they wouldn't exist, but I cannot physically accomplish them. I am an absolute beginner - is this just a case of fingers needing to strengthen with practice? I found a tutorial that showed hand position and how to use the thumb lined up with the finger making the bar, and that helped but I can't reliably make it work. Also I'm entirely baffled by the "bar two strings" direction. I have hypermobility and I still can't figure out how I'm supposed to do that.

Tips? Tricks? Tutorials?

 

[JJFN]

OK I know people can play bar (barre?) chords or they wouldn't exist, but I cannot physically accomplish them. I am an absolute beginner - is this just a case of fingers needing to strengthen with practice? I found a tutorial that showed hand position and how to use the thumb lined up with the finger making the bar, and that helped but I can't reliably make it work. Also I'm entirely baffled by the "bar two strings" direction. I have hypermobility and I still can't figure out how I'm supposed to do that.

Tips? Tricks? Tutorials?

Stu Fuchs on YouTube has two tutorials on barre chords. For now I would practice the two finger barre at the 5th fret. There is less tension there making barring easier. When you are comfortable there move down to the 3rd fret, and do the same things there. Be patient, it is a process, but the right practice methods will help you master barre chords. PS: There are several other YouTube tutorials that are helpful, pick one you like. And remember, practice. Relax and enjoy the journey.

 

[John Colter]

OK I know people can play bar (barre?) chords or they wouldn't exist, but I cannot physically accomplish them. I am an absolute beginner - is this just a case of fingers needing to strengthen with practice? I found a tutorial that showed hand position and how to use the thumb lined up with the finger making the bar, and that helped but I can't reliably make it work. Also I'm entirely baffled by the "bar two strings" direction. I have hypermobility and I still can't figure out how I'm supposed to do that.

Tips? Tricks? Tutorials?

It is possible that your uke has the strings set too high at the nut. This makes playing barre chords a real trial of strength. You can test this by pressing a string down at the third fret. The string should now be almost touching the first fret. If the gap is more than the thickness of a piece of paper, I would suggest getting an experienced person to adjust the grooves in the nut.

 

[ripock]

first of all I want to validate the OP. The reason barres are difficult is they are difficult. They take practice.

That being said, here is the one thing that cured my woes in about 20 seconds: instead of focusing on pressing into the fretboard with more and more pressure, make your elbow heavy. Gravity wants to pull your arms to the ground. Slightly exaggerate that force and pull your elbow toward the ground. Then as your fingers are being pulled downward, resist with your fingers. Thus, instead of just pushing into fretboard, you're pulling down and clamping down enough not to let your fingers slip off the fretboard.

I was having trouble with getting a clean E string on my barres and was frustrated, but after learning to pull down it fixed it in a matter of seconds. Give it a try; we're all different and maybe it won't fix you up but maybe it will.

 

[ploverwing]

That being said, here is the one thing that cured my woes in about 20 seconds: instead of focusing on pressing into the fretboard with more and more pressure, make your elbow heavy. Gravity wants to pull your arms to the ground. Slightly exaggerate that force and pull your elbow toward the ground. Then as your fingers are being pulled downward, resist with your fingers. Thus, instead of just pushing into fretboard, you're pulling down and clamping down enough not to let your fingers slip off the fretboard.

Well isn't that an interesting suggestion. I shall give that a go. It's kind of the same principle behind chopping wood - use your gravity in your favour.

I am a beginner too, and yes, barre chords take a lot of practice. I am certainly better at them than when I first started working on them (about 7ish months ago), but I am a long way from proficient at them. Regarding your "bar two strings" comment, I literally just figured out a way to incorporate that into a piece I'm working on, so that I didn't have to move my index finger between the E string (2nd string) and A string (1st string) by kind of barring two strings (although really, while the shape is kind of a barre that I'm using, but it's more of a gentle shift in pressure from one string to the other). There are a lot of chords that use that technique of the index finger barring the 2nd and 1st strings, and I couldn't begin to make those shapes when I first started, I thought everyone was insane that it was even a possible technique. I'm getting a little closer to making those shapes possible (still not brilliantly, but I can at least conceive that they can work).

It is definitely easier to use barre technique with an instrument that has proper setup. I had an entry-level Kala (which are pretty notoriously set high) that was practically impossible for me as a beginner to even figure out how to make a very simple barre chord work. I tried it on an ukulele with a better setup, and man, the difference was incredible, I actually made a sound that approximated what I was aiming for!

Welcome to the forum, and thanks for asking this great question! There are a lot of us noobs on here, and there are even more who land on UU through searching questions related to ukulele, I'm sure that others will appreciate it!

 

[KohanMike]

When I first took lessons for guitar in 1965, it was barre chords. It took a lot, and I mean A LOT of practice. I eventually got it and it became second nature. My teacher was emphatic to keep my thumb on the back of the neck, the classical guitar technique, which totally helped me. I agree with John Colter, your uke might need to lower the action at the nut, I always have that done with my ukes.

---

Michael Kohan in Los Angeles, Beverly Grove near the Beverly Center
4 tenor thinline cutaway ukes, 3 thinline acoustic bass ukes, 5 solid body bass ukes
•Donate to The Ukulele Kids Club, they provide ukuleles to children in hospital music therapy programs. www.theukc.org
•Member Cali Rose & The CC Strummers: www.youtube.com/user/CCStrummers/video, www.facebook.com/TheCCStrummers

 

[DownUpDave]

If you are a rank beginner forget about barr chords at the moment. If you are playing beginner level songs with 2, 3, 4 or 5 chords you don't need barr chords. Crawl, then walk, then run...........barr chords are sprinting

 

[cdkrugjr]

Learning how to bar is tricky! My suggestion is to concentrate on the Bbm7 shape . . . 1111 . . . Yep, bar the open strings and nothing else.

When the ONLY thing you need to worry about is one finger, you can concentrate on that finger.

At that point it comes down to proper mechanics, thumb Behind the neck, and figuring out the right angle for Your index finger—mine’s rotated about 15 degrees, but everyone’s finger is a bit different.

Once you get the Bbm7 shape sorted out up and down the neck, all of a sudden NO chords are especially difficult, including E (4447…) ever again.

 

[man0a]

Problems playing barre chords start with problems with your posture. Before you read or watch 100 barre chord tutorials, watch this tutorial on ukulele posture, from the Ukulele Underground YouTube channel. P.S. If you are using a strap, get rid of it until you master barre chords. Relying on a strap too early can really mess up your posture.

 

[hendulele]

Stu Fuchs on YouTube has two tutorials on barre chords. For now I would practice the two finger barre at the 5th fret. There is less tension there making barring easier. When you are comfortable there move down to the 3rd fret, and do the same things there. Be patient, it is a process, but the right practice methods will help you master barre chords. PS: There are several other YouTube tutorials that are helpful, pick one you like. And remember, practice. Relax and enjoy the journey.

I’ll second this. our club recently hosted a workshop with Ukester Brown, and David started at the 5th fret. Wow. That was a revelation.

And yes, setup at the nut is essential. Besides, if the action is too high there, your intonation will be off and even open chords will sound weird.

 

[bbkobabe]

Learning how to bar is tricky! My suggestion is to concentrate on the Bbm7 shape . . . 1111 . . . Yep, bar the open strings and nothing else.

Hmmmm... One of my students wanted us to learn the song Red Swan/Attack on Titan Theme with this Bbm7 chord... and here is what I found:

It was quite easy to play on some of my ukes, and almost impossible on others... depending on neck thickness and how the transition of the neck to head-stock is shaped.

My Kala Travel Tenor has a very thin neck and the "bump" that is formed by the radius change at the transition point is very small... makes playing this chord pretty easy...

My Pono tenor has a really fat neck to accommodate the truss rod, making it almost impossible to barre at the first fret. I ended up taking a rasp and changing the neck to head-stock transition/profile on the 'downhill' or underside of the neck, and then sanding it back to polish. I took away quite a bit of wood here, but I can play that chord with no problem now.

I ended up doing the exact same thing to my Fluke Tenor, for the exact same reason. That single open slot(?) head-stock is cool looking - but quite wide and it really gets in the way of the Bbm7 chord being played. A quick trip out to the garage and a few minutes with my trusty Shinto saw rasp made this job easy. Then just sand and polish back up to 3000 grit using a standard course of sand paper... and then I'm playing 1111 with ease.

My Bruce Wei has a different issue: The A string tuner is in the way! I develop a tiny blister after playing that song a couple of times in a row because the base of my pointer finger rubs against the hold down screw and gear wheel. Not sure how to fix that, but changing out those open back Der Jung tuners might be in my future. Not sure what brand will accomplish this yet... so I avoid playing that song on this ukulele!

My Pono Baritone is older and has a different neck profile, so I can barre this chord shape just fine. (It's now an Fm7 or something... but it works.)

I never even thought this would be an issue until I fell in love with this song...

But in general: I cheat when playing barre chords: I lay down my middle finger and then place my pointer finger on top of it for extra hold down power... I find this especially helpful when playing "fake" E (4444).

I teach my students this as well, since kids have a hard time keeping all the strings down at once. It's a bit inefficient, but it works!

 

[rainbow21]

But in general: I cheat when playing barre chords: I lay down my middle finger and then place my pointer finger on top of it for extra hold down power... I find this especially helpful when playing "fake" E (4444).

I teach my students this as well, since kids have a hard time keeping all the strings down at once. It's a bit inefficient, but it works!

I actually see a number of professionals do this. At first I wondered about needing the middle finger to fret two other strings but realized they are very facile with their ring and pinky fingers, which is not true for me. They often play tenor, which has a higher tension so this helps too. I play concert (because the tenor spacing and increased tension are hard for me) which allows me to use only my index (sigh of relief).

 

[man0a]

But in general: I cheat when playing barre chords: I lay down my middle finger and then place my pointer finger on top of it for extra hold down power... I find this especially helpful when playing "fake" E (4444).

I teach my students this as well, since kids have a hard time keeping all the strings down at once. It's a bit inefficient, but it works!

I've heard Aldrine and Aaron recommend a 2-finger E chord. Lay your middle finger down on the 4th fret, but bend it up slightly to miss the A-string and put your index finger on the A-string. Takes a little practice, but once mastered, this is much easier than the 4-finger E-chord. Techniques like this are easy to practice while you are watching TV or reading a book, etc.

 

[greenfrog]

A few other things that might help:

• Keep your thumb on the back of the neck, but it doesn’t have to be parallel to the finger doing the bar. Some people point their thumb backwards towards the headstock, which may reduce tension in your wrist if you’re feeling pain from the effort your thumb is making.
  • Caveat: I got this advice from someone whose main instrument is guitar. I found it very helpful, but I don’t know if it’s considered normal on ukulele or not
• Try to squeeze on the wide part of the neck - if your thumb is sliding off the bump in the back to one side or the other, you may be having to squeeze harder to pinch the narrower area.
• Make sure you are holding your ukulele properly for whatever size you play. If you are holding your ukulele at the wrong angle, your wrist will be at an awkward angle relative to the neck, and bar chords will make your wrist hurt.
• Try just moving the bar up and down the neck and plucking the strings to make sure they sound - don’t worry about using other fingers to make a chord, just practice the bar itself. Then when you’re ready, try doing the same thing with a chord that only needs one finger (C major or A minor for GCEA tuning/G major or E minor for DGBE tuning).
• It may help to pay attention to the folds under your knuckles and make sure that none of them line up with a string. And be sure you bar more with the corner of your finger, not the part that has a fingerprint-like texture on it, but not all the way on the side either.
• Try barring all over the neck. If your ukulele has issues with high action, you may find it easier to bar at one end than the other (The high action on mine is from Lanikai Tuna-Uke saddles, so I find it easier to bar near the nut. But if the high action is from the nut it might be easier to bar further down the neck away from the nut.)
• Try tuning your ukulele a note or two lower than it’s meant to be tuned, to reduce the string tension. If bar chords suddenly feel much easier, definitely get the action checked out.
• If you’re dealing with high action, it may be easier to put your bar finger slightly further back from the fret than you otherwise would
• Not all chord shapes are easy or convenient to bar. And that’s OK, you don’t need to use all the shapes. The G (on GCEA) or D (on DGBE) is a particularly uncomfortable shape to use, so if you find it hard, don’t use it. Use the shapes for the chords one letter before/after that in the musical alphabet (F/A for G in GCEA tuning, or C/E for D in DGBE tuning) and bar two frets higher or lower to get the same chord

Caveat: I’m a beginner myself, passing along advice I received and found useful. I can play bar chords pretty well now thanks to this advice. But if an experienced player or ukulele teacher tells you anything on this list is wrong, listen to them, not me.

 

[clear]

I can't reliably make it work.

You just need more practice. I'd bet before Christmas, you'll be saying to yourself "I wonder what was so hard about bar chords". So, in a way, it can be a Christmas gift you give yourself.

 

[rustydusty]

I've been playing stringed instruments for decades, and still find "barr" chords difficult. Some of the songs I play require them, and l would like to hit them as cleanly and as quickly as other chords. Arthritis is not making this easier... I tried a couple of the suggestions put forth in this thread this evening, but still have a way to go. "We are our own worst critic"...

 

[SurferJay]

I came to the Uke from playing the guitar so barre chords on the Uke were a lot easier.

There is lots of good advice in this thread. I would recommend choosing a moveable C shape barre chord and just spend a few minutes every day strumming it in different positions. In time you will develop the strength and dexterity to play it.

IMHO I would definitely not shy away from barre chords as they really offer a more dynamic sound and most importantly moveable shapes which allow you to unlock the fret board later on.

 

[robinboyd]

first of all I want to validate the OP. The reason barres are difficult is they are difficult. They take practice.

That being said, here is the one thing that cured my woes in about 20 seconds: instead of focusing on pressing into the fretboard with more and more pressure, make your elbow heavy. Gravity wants to pull your arms to the ground. Slightly exaggerate that force and pull your elbow toward the ground. Then as your fingers are being pulled downward, resist with your fingers. Thus, instead of just pushing into fretboard, you're pulling down and clamping down enough not to let your fingers slip off the fretboard.

I was having trouble with getting a clean E string on my barres and was frustrated, but after learning to pull down it fixed it in a matter of seconds. Give it a try; we're all different and maybe it won't fix you up but maybe it will.

Everything in this post is spot on

 

[Another Ukulele]

Start simple and ‘easy,
C7, then a Bar D7
and realize that you can use the same shape at
the 4th fret for E7
the 5th fret for F7
and so on.

Play an A7, the a Bar B7
and realize that you can use the same shape at
the 3rd fret for C7
the 5th fret for D7
and so on

Once you get comfortable with these and build your confidenc, you can progress to more complicated shapes.

Good luck

 

[Bluesy]

OK I know people can play bar (barre?) chords or they wouldn't exist, but I cannot physically accomplish them. I am an absolute beginner - is this just a case of fingers needing to strengthen with practice? I found a tutorial that showed hand position and how to use the thumb lined up with the finger making the bar, and that helped but I can't reliably make it work. Also I'm entirely baffled by the "bar two strings" direction. I have hypermobility and I still can't figure out how I'm supposed to do that.

Tips? Tricks? Tutorials?

For me, sitting properly and holding the uke correctly is essential for barre chords. If you are hugging the lower bout of the uke into your body with your right arm, the neck of the instrument is slightly pushed away from your body and you can barre by pulling the neck of the instrument toward your body with your fretting hand. If you're set up correctly, you'll find that you will be exerting the chord with less squeezing pressure from your left thumb and fingers. In fact, you can actually wiggle your thumb while executing a chord.

This approach uses your body's larger muscle groups to do most of the work and helps minimize strain on the more delicate and sensitive muscles and tendons of the hands.

I also agree with ripock. If your fretting arm and hand are "heavy", using the pull of gravity, that is also a huge help and works with the above suggestion.

It can be frustrating, but will come with time.

Bluesy.