Barred strings impossiblity. Me or the Uke ?

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monkeyboyo

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Weeks of practice, experimenting etc hasn't led to any more likelihood of clean sound eg for partly barred B.
Microadjusting fingers, uke, elbow, shoulder, pressure occasionally achieves a clear sound, but it is more luck than having established the subtle nuances for me.

Are some ukes more difficult than others ?(mine is an Ohana Tenor) Are some people's unique finger/hand combination just unhelpful?
eg reaching 3rd & 4th string simply levers up the first finger for me.
 
That is one of the tricky ones, my way is to lay my hand over a bit, & at the same time use almost the side of my index finger to create the bar.

Unfortunately, it is just down to practicing. ;)
 
Thanks for your reply uke1950 :)
Practice is what I've done, and also with the method you describe.
Next step is to try other ukes to see if this changes anything
 
Don't try barring up at the B & Bb areas. Slide up to the 5th fret, a barred D chord and practice there. You will find that barring requires less pressure the further up the neck. There are several good you tube's on barring a ukulele. But in the end it all comes down to practice. Hang in there, we all went through this problem and don't be discouraged. With good smart practice you will master the barre chord. Good Luck and Enjoy
 
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JJFN said:
Don't try barring up at the B & Bb areas. Slide up to the 5th fret, a barred C chord and practice there. You will find that barring requires less pressure the further up the neck. There are several good you tube's on barring a ukulele. But in the end it all comes down to practice. Hang in there, we all went through this problem and don't be discouraged. With good smart practice you will master the barre chord. Good Luck and Enjoy
Click to expand...

I forgot to mention that Ukulele Mike has a great tutorial on barre chords on you tube.
 
Thanks JJFN for the encouragement and advice. Much appreciated.
All the sources I watched seemed relaxed and instantaneously accurate. Tough to know how much
practice required for improvement. Will take a look at Ukulele Mike. Thanks again !
 
When I started playing guitar about 50 years ago, I had a terrible time with barre chords. It took me a long time to finally get good at it, lots and lots of practice. When I took up the ukulele over three years ago, I found barre chords easy because of two less strings. I make sure my non-barre fingers are arched enough not to touch other strings.
 
Even on 'easier' frets, same issue of fingers seeming too short to fully arch middle & ring fingers.
The strain of arching them causes tiny 'lift' of index finger. Pads of those middle & ring fingers then impinge on nearby strings.
As a climber, I'm used to discomfort, pain and contorting my hands, but not even that enables a clean sound.
I'm presuming a perpetual problem for many in that case
 
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It might be a bit of both. Arching the fingertips, finger strength, and greater finger independence require practice, a lot of it, and this is a hard chord. It could be that the action (string height) is too high, requiring you to press too hard, which gives you less flexibility and makes it more likely that you'll mute other strings. Do you have the means to measure the space between the underside of the A string and the top of the 1st and 12th fret? (the top of the metal divider, not the fretboard).

The B chord is one of those chords that seemed impossible to me, especially cleanly switching to it, but at some point it sort of just fell into place.

Might be a good idea to spend a few weeks doing these exercises here (just a few minutes every day):



part 2, part 3
 
Great advice from everyone. Also, as your hands get stronger, it will get much easier. All that being true, no one has addressed that it most certainly is easier on some ukes than others, especially when you're learning it. So your idea of testing your friends' instruments is a good one. Once you can do it, though, you can do it on any piece o' junk out there. Still, some will be easier, as indeed some play easier in general.
 
if it hasn't been mentioned yet, please make sure your thumb
is pressing on the middle of the back of the neck, between frets 2 and 3.
it might help :)

if you're holding the neck in the web of your hand, between thumb and index
finger, that might make it difficult to reach the 3rd and 4th strings.

keep uke'in',
 
I have had the action lowered (nut slots filed deeper so strings are closer to the frets) on a few ukes. It made a world of difference, even though I could already barr. The higher the strings are above the frets the more force required to barr. Definitely try your friends ukes to see if there is a difference. As other have said barr chords require lots of practice, they are difficult. Try using a full barr for the B chord.......that is the only way I can play it.
 
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Thank you all for the really helpful, considered responses. Much appreciated.
Need some time to digest, experiment & practice a lot more it seems
Trying out different brands and sizes of uke are my next port of call. to eliminate any difficulties with my
particular uke. Haven't got the means to measure space between string/fret right now, but will get it done
Cheers
 
As a warm-up, I am having my students barre up and down the neck from the 5th fret (taken from Ukulele Mike's video). Since the barre seems to be such a barrier (see what I did there) for so many players, I am getting my students to do it from early on, not as a chord, but as an exercise.

When it gets added as a D7 or Bm (or even Bb) in the future, the experience will be quite different for them.
 
You said it was the partial barre that is giving you trouble. Have you tried it with a full barre? I still can't do the partial barre. My fingers just won't work that way.
 
There are a few "tricks" to try that may improve barring (at least for a full barre). Some are explained in this video:
http://www.playukulelebyear.com/3-questions-interview/3-questions-interviewdave-egan-ergonomics/
In addition, you can try putting the tip of your finger past the edge of the fretboard on the the G string side and hooking it on the edge to provide a fulcrum; think of your finger as a lever. Another method is to press on the lower bout with your elbow to lever the neck outward against your finger. A strap is helpful in that it allows you to focus your fretting hand on making the barre, not holding up the neck. All of these methods are intended to increase finger pressure on the strings without putting excessive pressure on the thumb.
 
I have to agree with Uncle Rod. Keeping the thumb behind the neck is generally the best way to bar a chord. The other, less intuitive thing is not to press down to hard. Nylon strings only require a light touch. Also, if your setup is not good, it will make things worse. Practice doesn't make perfect, perfect practice makes perfect.
 
Make sure your thumb is on the back of the neck, not in the valley of your thumb and index finger.
Place your thumb slightly closer to the nut from your barring index finger. Also make sure your uke setup is ok, even out of the box an Ohana should be ok.
 
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