Breaking The Bar Chord Barrier

Are you a guitarist who is comfortable playing open string chords but when it comes to bar chords they are a barrier to playing certain songs? The key to breaking the bar chord barrier on guitar is building hand strength and placing your hand in the correct position on the guitar neck. In comparison to open string chords such as G C and D bar chords are much more difficult to play as they require extra pressure for the strings ring out clearly.

https://youtu.be/xa1raCF9FpI

To help build the hand strength necessary for a clear bar chord sound try this exercise. Using just your first finger bar it across all the strings at the 5th fret. Ensure that the finger is perfectly parallel with the fret and placed up against it as close as possible.

To help keep the finger straight keep the palm up and close to the bottom of the guitar neck.

Also ensure that your thumb is placed behind the fifth fret spot on the neck and pointing upwards

If your hand is placed correctly there should be a gap under the guitar neck so that you palm doesn’t actually touch the bottom of the neck.

The thumb will act as a vice helping to apply pressure to the first finger. While you are doing this pluck each string individually checking that each one is ringing out clearly. If any strings are muted try moving your finger up or down slightly in relation to the floor. If some strings are still muted you may simply need to apply more pressure. As I say to my students it should be slightly painful