Hey Friend,
Before we get to talking about the B minor barre chord, I thought I'd mention a cool resource I came across. I found some instructional guitar videos over at Amazon. They lump bass guitar in with the videos, but you can scroll through those pretty quickly.
There are a few specific chords with dedicated videos, but most of the content is tips and tricks, so lots of little tidbits. There's some really good stuff in there, so take a moment and check it out.
I also read an interesting article about a company that books small concerts in people's homes. Talk about getting back to the way things used to be done (can you say "home parties?!"). I won't spoil it here; you can read the article yourself. What I want you to pay more attention to is the Beethoven video in the article. It provides a bar for each instrument and follows them through, similar to a Rock Band video. I got hooked right away, watching the interaction of each instrument through the graphics.
Okay, let's get back to work...
B Minor Barres
As are all traditional barre chords, B minor is a second inversion chord, with note order 5 1 3m. It doesn't matter if its the root 6 or root 5 version, the E shape or A shape chords. Both are still second inversions.
The one most of us are familiar with (and dread) is the root 5 version. You barre the first five strings at the second fret and then add an E major shape chord to accomplish the minor version of the chord.
Please go back and read that again - we use the E shape chord in a root 5 barre chord to get the minor version.
Keeping your index finger in place across the five strings, put your ring finger on the fourth string at the fourth fret. Your pinky goes on the fourth fret, third string and your middle finger belongs on the second string, third fret. Give it a good strum.
Moving up to the seventh fret, barre all six strings. We're going to use the E minor shape here (which we saw in the key of C Major, and we'll see in G major as well later).
Place your ring finger on the ninth fret fifth string and your pinky on the fourth string, ninth fret (this looks just like the power chord for B). When you strum, you're including the third string which provided the minor third for the minor chord.
Take a look at the exercise files and listen to the MP3 to hear what it sounds like in each position. I slowed the tempo down to 60 BPM (beats per minute) at Jay's suggestion (Thanks, Jay!). I think it makes sense, as it gives you time to move your fingers around if necessary.
That's it for today. Have a rockin' Saturday and take it easy (or any way you can get it!).
Peace~
Dave | 
