Chords That Make You Fret

LorenFL

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What are the chords you hate?

I've made my peace with a lot of them that used to bug me. The infamous E never really bothered me. My ring finger can do that barre of the 3 strings on the 4th fret, no problem.

Bb used to be a struggle. I can get to it now, but not always quickly. Same with Em and B7. I can get there, but not without looking.

My nemesis seems to be the Bm chord. My index finger refuses to do a "simple" barre while still allowing other fingers to work. Even doing the Bb, I'm not barring, I'm using fingertips on the two first-fret strings.

My solution for Bm is either individual fingertips on the 2nd fret with a pinky reach (which I'm getting better at), or barring with the index and reaching way around and grabbing the G string with my thumb (which is awkward, but effective). I find that I don't usually even like how that chord sounds, so I just break all the rules and find a substitution that sounds right.

The finger-crossing "diminished 7" chord shape used to flummox me, but I've gotten better at that. And then, what is it, the minor 7 that is the same, but with an open fret between?

I haven't even gotten much into the "big stretch" chords. Still doing finger exercises with that kind of thing in mind!

What are the chords that you hate? Or that hate you?
 
I always get a quick shot of pain in my hand when I play the Bb chord. No idea why that specific chord does it, but not others.
 
Em and B7 are my latest nemesis. I can do them, I just can't GET to them without looking, and they're fumbly.

I'll just keep practicing.
 
I always get a quick shot of pain in my hand when I play the Bb chord. No idea why that specific chord does it, but not others.

I assume you're using the standard Bb shape. And I further assume it is the shape that's causing the pain and not the fact that you're forming the shape at the first fret (I mean, you'd still have the pain if you went to the 7th fret and used the shape to play E). If that's the case, let me make a suggestion. For me (and others I have spoken to) the index finger is the problem. To partially barre the A and E strings with the index finger, you have to acutely bend that knuckle between the proximal and medial phalanges. To get around this, I simply lay the index finger down flat and barre all the strings. This way, I don't have to worry about anything except fretting the G and C strings.
 
One that I used to struggle with was Ab7 - 1323. It's a useful shape as a moveable 7th chord, so well worth persevering with.

John Colter
 
First inversion of G major

I play in low G tuning and when I need the G chord with the low B as the melody note picked by thumbpick on the beat, my left little finger must not arrive late to the fretboard. It still does.

210202 132919 G_B.jpg
 
I'm working on Sail On Sailor by the Beach Boys (on Bari).
It has an EbM9 - 1031 ( Eb G D F)
I have to contort my wrist around to play it cleanly.
 
I'm working on Sail On Sailor by the Beach Boys (on Bari).
It has an EbM9 - 1031 ( Eb G D F)
I have to contort my wrist around to play it cleanly.

I know what you mean. I have been playing 1001 Am add9 and you really have to swing that elbow to get the angle. Have you tried playing 1131? It is only different by one half-step of a note and it would be a lot easier to finger with just a straight barre and one finger down on the E string.
 
I know what you mean. I have been playing 1001 Am add9 and you really have to swing that elbow to get the angle. Have you tried playing 1131? It is only different by one half-step of a note and it would be a lot easier to finger with just a straight barre and one finger down on the E string.

No, that doesn't sound right.
An easier fingering is 1331, replacing the 3rd with the 5th (Bb instead of G), but I think the G better defines the chord.
 
No, that doesn't sound right.
An easier fingering is 1331, replacing the 3rd with the 5th (Bb instead of G), but I think the G better defines the chord.

Yeah, I see what you mean. Now that I think of it, if someone put a gun to my head and said play a Ebmaj9, I would immediately play 3535 by barring the third fret and fretting and fretting the notes on the fifth fret with my ring finger and pinky (that's just how I play this shape whether we call it Ebmaj9 or Gm7). Good luck. This is hard stuff.
 
What are the chords you hate?

I've made my peace with a lot of them that used to bug me. The infamous E never really bothered me. My ring finger can do that barre of the 3 strings on the 4th fret, no problem.

Bb used to be a struggle. I can get to it now, but not always quickly. Same with Em and B7. I can get there, but not without looking.

My nemesis seems to be the Bm chord. My index finger refuses to do a "simple" barre while still allowing other fingers to work. Even doing the Bb, I'm not barring, I'm using fingertips on the two first-fret strings.

My solution for Bm is either individual fingertips on the 2nd fret with a pinky reach (which I'm getting better at), or barring with the index and reaching way around and grabbing the G string with my thumb (which is awkward, but effective). I find that I don't usually even like how that chord sounds, so I just break all the rules and find a substitution that sounds right.

The finger-crossing "diminished 7" chord shape used to flummox me, but I've gotten better at that. And then, what is it, the minor 7 that is the same, but with an open fret between?

I haven't even gotten much into the "big stretch" chords. Still doing finger exercises with that kind of thing in mind!

What are the chords that you hate? Or that hate you?

I wish I could do that kind of stretch with an E. With my ring finger I'd never get the reach or I'd be trying to bend that finger right before the base. My index finger bends some at the tip so covering the other strings with the other fingers and trying to get that A string has me in contortions. I've given up and just use 444x. It sounds a little better to me than 1x02 or x442. Muting a low g string sounds awful
fo E7/B7, practice finger picking that bridge on Can't help Falling in Love--C-Em-B7-Em-B7-Em-B7-Em-A7-Dm-G7.
I guess we all have ones that drive us nuts for one reason or the other. I've just given up on a standard E
 
Interesting. If I'm playing any chord where I CAN use a full bar, I do. I know a lot of people who try to play Bb or 2nd position D as a Partial, but that always struck me as silly, though I've tried to play a partial bar D similar to the common guitar A fingering.

I CAN play an E as 4442, fingered 2341, but I prefer the sound of 4447, played 1-bar 3, so use it unless I have a reason to play it any other way.

One that Does bug me is the "official" way to play FM7 2413, and I'm yet to encounter a situation where it's "better" than the alternatives. My favorite is 55oo
 
I wish I could do that kind of stretch with an E. With my ring finger I'd never get the reach or I'd be trying to bend that finger right before the base. My index finger bends some at the tip so covering the other strings with the other fingers and trying to get that A string has me in contortions. I've given up and just use 444x. It sounds a little better to me than 1x02 or x442. Muting a low g string sounds awful
fo E7/B7, practice finger picking that bridge on Can't help Falling in Love--C-Em-B7-Em-B7-Em-B7-Em-A7-Dm-G7.
I guess we all have ones that drive us nuts for one reason or the other. I've just given up on a standard E

Have you ever experimented with playing up the neck? I ask because when I look at that bridge I immediately think Em=x777 and B7=11 11 11 12. The transition between those two chords is a breeze since all you're doing is sliding a straight barre and adding a finger.
 
I'm working on Sail On Sailor by the Beach Boys (on Bari).
It has an EbM9 - 1031 ( Eb G D F)
I have to contort my wrist around to play it cleanly.

Just an aside, Emkc, what a great song "Sail On Sailor" was! I had a band with my three brothers back in the 70's, and we had that one on our setlist!
 
Just a little different "take" on this subject--- I'm not a fan of any chord that includes the same note twice. (I use re-entrant tuning.) I've always felt that if we only have four strings to work with, why give away one potential note in a voicing by duplicating notes within the chord? For example, within the G chord, normally fingered "0232", we have a couple of identical notes in unison (on the second and fourth strings). There are two things about this that I don't care for: 1) the two unison notes will often ring very slightly out-of-tune with each other, resulting in a somewhat "cringe-worthy" sound; and 2) the chord is really being voiced with just three notes, thus "wasting" the opportunity to figure out a fourth note to smooth out the sound of the chord. So, when it's time to play a G chord, I opt for "4230". Not only does it ring "in tune", but it also uses four distinct and different notes, thus making the most of the limited arsenal of strings that the uke gives us. Now, having said all that, I should acknowledge that there may be a large diversity of viewpoints on the issue. It's all about personal preference.
 
4320, but there is no A in the G chord. GMadd9?
 
4320, but there is no A in the G chord. GMadd9?

Very good point, Dgame! Actually, that fingering I use for the G chord (or what I referred to as a G chord!) is "4230", rather than "4320". Even with that clarification, yes, my version of the chord does indeed include that "A" note (i.e., the open A string). I'm not sure what the technical name of the chord would therefore be, honestly, but it always seems to work fine for me as a substitute for the traditionally-fingered G chord, with the included A note giving the chord an interesting flavor.
 
I can't play any chords that require a lot of stretch. My pinkie finger is way too short for my others. It's a wonder I can play any stringed instruments at all. It made me play a lot of flat notes on the fiddle, and made piano very hard.
When I play the G#, I have to play it X343, for example.
The F minor flummoxes me if i have to grab it quickly.
 
No worries, I would like to see a ukulele chord chart that avoids duplicate notes.That would be interesting
 
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