Hey Friend,

Over the past couple of days, I introduced the two barre chord shapes you will encounter the most in your guitar playing. I also applied that knowledge to the C major chord, explaining where you can play it in two positions on the neck.

Good stuff, right? Yeah, good, but maybe not great if you're new and intimidated by the buggers!

There's no need to fear, Underdog is here! Anyone remember that one?

There are a few things working against you when you first try to play a barre chord. The first is the fact that you're forcing five or six strings down with your index finger. One string is okay, two strings start being a pain (can you say open F major?), but six strings is downright torture.

Even if you can get all the strings pressed down, you might still not have a clean sound from each string. So you need to start building the strength of the muscles between your thumb and index finger. Actually, the thick muscles in your hand where the thumb connects.

The physical process of pressing the strings down is like when you pinch something. Think of your thumb and index finger as a sort of clamp holding things together - in this case, the strings clamped down to the fingerboard. This is exactly like using a capo on your strings.

The problem is, your index finger isn't a rigid piece of metal, so you must figure out how to make it work like one. That's where we come to positioning.

Each of us need to find the best finger position that gives enough rigidity to the index finger and allows good placement of the thumb.

Stat by placing your index finger across the strings with the pads of your finger flat on the strings. Put your thumb directly below your index finger on the back side of the guitar neck. If you turn your guitar upside down, the neck looks like a circle cut in half. Place the pad of your thumb at the top of the arch.

Try pressing the strings down by pinching the neck between your index finger and thumb. How does that feel? Can you get any clean notes from the strings or are they muffled?

Make small adjustments by moving your thumb up or down the neck for a better grip and slightly rolling your index finger away from you so the strings are being pressed down by the edge of your finger rather than the pads on the bottom.

For each adjustment, play each string individually to see if it is clear or muffled. Work at his for five minutes at a time before you move on to other practice areas. 

This is just one exercise to help you master barre chords. It's not meant to be a complete tutorial for the barre chord - it's to help you find a good finger position for you and to strengthen your hand muscles. No, it's not easy and will take some time and daily practice. The good news is your hand and muscles are toughening up with every practice session.

Once that big, fat thumb muscle is strong, barre chords will be much easier.

This isn't the only trick to getting physically ready for barre chords. More tomorrow...

Peace~

Dave