um i gotta problem...

[metalmaniac87]

ok i can play any power chords nearly perfectly any speed, my single note picking and freting is pretty good and my soloing has been improving a lot in the past month and i can now play some pretty cool solos blah blah blah but theres just one big thing missing in that i cannot play chords good and they well....suck...my barre chords are horribly inconsistant in that i cannot press down all the strings near the bottom 3 frets very well in a mid tempo chord progression even though ive practiced it as much as my single note picking and lead play, generally i cannot play chords as well as i think i should be by now. at present it is my biggest obsticle. what can i do to improve this part of my playing and quickly?!

[Negative Creep]

Keep practicing?

[Strokes77]

play an A, then a B, then a C, then a D...... want me to keep going?

practice switching between all of the shapes you can find online, and then practice switching between them randomly, then with different rythyms, then blindfolded and naked...

after this, do it again.

[zhyla]

Sounds like you're just lacking the strength to bar all 5 or 6 strings. You should have an easier time at higher (numbered) frets, and those barre chords do slide well :).

I'd say just like everyone else, keep at it. I started with barre chords on a classical guitar so it was easier but it still took a while. I think there are hand exercisers you can buy but if you just play chords every day you'll get there soon enough.

[Herbert]

Like the others said, it's just solid practice. Do simple chords and practise changing between them, once you've got them down perfectly just keep trying with the barre chords. I used to get my fingers in the right position where it sounded perfect and just held it there for ages. Hurt like hell, but I can do them no ;)

[LewsTherin]

Use the side of your index finger to bar, not the fleshy underside. Probably the #1 peice of advice anyone ever gave me for barre chords.

[Mr. Badguy]

About how long would it take to master these chords? And when I say master, I mean getting them to sound clean at a fast pace.

[LewsTherin]

About how long would it take to master these chords? And when I say master, I mean getting them to sound clean at a fast pace.

We can't tell you.

It depends on:

-natural talent/skill/motor skill
-time you devote
-how hard you work
-etc


Little Johnny, who half-asses what little practicing he does, and sucks at guitar anyway is gunna take alot longer than Rick, who's already proficient, and devotes alot of well-spent time to practicing.

[Sixty Ton Angel]

:lol: You said Little Johnny...

Anyway yeah, as much as it will annoy you the best advice to give is just practise.

Find a song that you like that uses barre chords and focus on trying to get that down so you'll have more enthusiasm to actually do it.
Not just some random chord rhythm...

[Mr. Badguy]

Ah, I see, I see... I guess I'd better start hauling ***, then. Muchos gracias, amigo.

[metalmaniac87]

progress report!!!!! i know, you can hardly contain your excitment ;) thanks for your comments and i will get down to some good hard practicing and incorperate the tips with it...

on the barre chords i particularly want to thank the guy that told me to use the side of my finger instead of the fleshy underside, now i understand why those chords where so up and down, i was using the grooved part of the finger on some strings and thus they were dead. easy mistake to make yet it sounds pretty stupid that i didn't realise it all along!!

cheers

[ibanezman575]

practice slowly

[Mike_Philippov]

Hi,

Another tip that might help you is that you can place your index finger almost on top of the fret wire itself. If you did this with regular playing the note would sound dead, but with bars it works just fine.

Mike.

[Bob555]

I started learning guitar on the larger strings which made it easier for future playing, but as for speed I reached a point where I just had to play chords in a random order, over and over til I got faster. It probably sounds old by now but practice, practice, practice.

[Philk]

Press harder to bar all the strings. And go from chord to chord to chord and just keep practicing. Chords are huge.