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Basic barre chord shapes


Basic barre chord shapes


After learning guitar for a while, you will inevitably come across barre chords in songs. Closed chords refer to the shape where the index finger presses down on all six strings at the side, as opposed to the beginner method of using one finger to press down on one string at a time. This requires equal pressure from the index finger to press down all the strings, making it more challenging and a hurdle for beginners. Nevertheless, there are many benefits to mastering it.


Why practice barre chords? Students can think of barre chords as a temporary capo, using a similar shape to move between guitar frets and play any chord. For example, using the basic barre chord shapes, starting with an F chord with the root note on the sixth string, by moving two frets up, you can play a G barre chord. This applies to other shapes such as Fm to Gm, C to D, and so on.


As a student's theory and chord knowledge progresses to seventh chords, barre chords can also be applied to them. By shifting the barre chord and adding different chord sounds of the seventh chords, a wide range of chords can be played. Basically, this can enable you to play most pop songs.


In short, when you learn barre chords and seventh chords, your steps for playing a song are as follows:

  1. Find the root note of the chord on the guitar
  2. Decide which closed chord to use
  3. Play the chord if you recognize it, or use a learned shape to infer it


For example:

  1. Amaj7-F#m7-Dmaj7-Dm7
  2. Find the A note on the 5th fret of the sixth string
  3. Play the Amaj7 shape with the sixth string as the root note
  4. Find the F# note on the 2nd fret of the sixth string
  5. Move the Amaj7 shape to the 2nd fret and change it to m7 shape on the sixth string
  6. Get F#m7
  7. Repeat with Dmaj7 and Dm7


At the end of the lecture notes, I have organized a few chord substitutions commonly used to replace barre chords. Using barre chords can be quite strenuous, and playing an entire song using only barre chords may not be the best for harmonic variety or your hand muscles. These substitutions can effectively solve this problem, where one finger presses down on a string while having the function of a barre chord. Simply make sure the strings you don't press don't sound, and you can move around the guitar freely.


- Fusian Music - 

< Daniel's Music Classroom >

by < Daniel Chen >
- Guitar Teacher of Fusian Music
- Graduated from Berklee College of Music
- See more in Fusian Music Website
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