What do you do when your guitar playing seems to hit a wall? Are there songs that seem too hard to play? For many people bar chords seem too difficult to play. Never give up!
One of my friends mentioned to me that she had been playing the guitar for many years, but avoided playing all bar chords. She said that they were too hard to play. When I asked her how many hours in total she actually had tried to play them, she admitted it was just a couple hours!
I challenged her to ‘try’ to play them for just 5 – 10 minutes a day. If you don’t try, then you definitely will never succeed. The exciting thing that happens is your hand will get stronger. It’s like working out in a gym.
Let me back up and also say, if bar chords are your ‘wall’, you might want to have your guitar checked out. It may be too hard to play, period. There are some instruments with unusually high ‘action’ and those are hard to play. The action is the distance from the string to the neck. If the guitar is not the problem, with practice the bar chords will eventually became very easy to play.
One of my students was an intern at a local hospital. He tested patient’s hand grips and decided to test himself. He told me that he noticed his left hand was getting stronger. He was also pleased to find that his bar chords were getting clearer. He tested my hand grips and, although I’m right-handed, my left-hand grip was much stronger than the right too.
If it’s a specific song that’s bogging you down, it’s OK to move on and come back to it later. Sometimes things that were hard to play become easy later because your guitar playing has improved!
Just… never give up!
that’s how i used to learn. but i find my students, when they move on to a different song, they don’t want torevisit the song again what do you suggest in a case like that?
Jennifer, thanks for your comment. In general, it’s nice for students to learn with songs they enjoy playing. Is there a specific reason a students needs to play a particular song? If they can learn the same skills with a song they like, it’s not a problem if they don’t want to revisit a specific song again. Blessings, Jean
Never give up, is what we have to follow. I tried to play a new song from a free Internet download. I could master it after say 100 tries (1 month) in the end it became easy. I realised r playing an instrument is not easy the way we think. When we see others play I think it is quiet easy but in reality now I realise how much of hard work goes behind to learn these instruments. If there is a will surely we will never give up.
Joseph, this is so true! I remember when I first started teaching the guitar I had two boys about the same age. One learned very slowly and the 2nd caught on very fast. I just assumed that Rodney would be a better player than Stevie. Well, after a few months Rodney quit and Stevie continued lessons for years. Hands down, Stevie can play circles around the boy I thought was going to be such a great player.
It’s not how fast you learn… the great players are the ones who continued to play and work on their playing too. It’s important to continue to learn new techniques and songs.
Blessings, Jean
Is there a strategy to learning barr chords? Do pick a favorite song and try to play the chords for the song or do learn how to play certain barr chords first before adding them to your songs? Also, is there a thought on when to use barr chords vs. open chords?
Thanks in advance for your thoughts.
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Stephen, I suggest starting with the chord change first. For example, Bm is a good bar to start with. I would have a student practice changing from D to Bm several times, then use it in a song. A good way to practice could be to practice changing to the chord around 20 times, then playing the song several times. The Third Volume of JW Worship Guitar Class introduces bar chords and includes a bar chord exercise.
As for the second question. That will depend on the song. I think it best to have the option of using open or bar chords because that’s the sound you want. I don’t think anyone has to only use open chords because they are avoiding the bar chords. Blessings, Jean
with barre chords I found that by simply making one small change, barring my F chords, I was able to ease into it. Once in position, up one fret to F# one more is G. also helpful to do a first position song I am used to playing, but play E chord using middle 4th an 5th fingers. The same with an A chord. baby steps into the barre.
My problem is that my hands are too small, and some cords are too hard to reach, and it’s also hard to not press additional striings when attempting to play certain cords.
Ernestine, my hands are small too. Wish I could see your playing. It might just be how you are holding the chords down. Also, when you play with the very tips of your fingers they are less likely to hit other strings.
Is there a guitar teacher or good guitarist you can go to for critiquing your playing? All the Best, Jean
Hi Jean:
When ever I am singing a song that I know and following the chords, sometimes the chords don’t sound right and I have to put in my own chords. I am talking about the Bm chord that the author suggests is not the correct chord. For some songs the suggested Bm chords are perfect. Sometime I will play the song on youtube and I follow the chords and sure enough the Bm chord doesn’t go there and that is with someone else singing the song. Can you tell me why this is?
Louie, I think you are saying that the chords to a song you find online are often not correct? This is very true. Most of the chords charts of songs online are posted by people who think they figured out what the chords are. For years students would bring me chords to songs they found online. Almost all of them had mistakes. The majority of sites with posted chords are not from the actual song owners. They are pretty close… but definitely not perfect. Hope that helps.