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Introduction To Barre Chords

You cannot play every chord in the guitar's open position. For example, you can only play 5 major chords
in the open position (C,A,G,E,D).
What if you wanted to play an F or B chord? How about an F# or Gb chord for that matter? You can't do it
without using a barred chord. There are 12 possible major chords and without barre chords you can only play 5
of them. It's the same thing with minor chords.

Barre Chords Move!

One of the great attributes of the guitar is that a guitarist can "carry" chord patterns up and down the fretboard to
create new chords. Many of these moveable chords are performed by creating what is called a Barre with one
finger. A barre chord is where we take a basic chord pattern and "move" it up the neck of the guitar to create
different chords.
For example, let's take the E chord pattern:

To move the chord pattern up the neck, we create a barre with our 1st finger. This barre, in a way, replaces the
nut of your guitar. The notes that were played open to produce the E chord will now be fingered with the barre
that you create with your 1st finger.
If we were to move the entire pattern up one fret it would look like this:
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It's the same pattern, but now

that we have moved the pattern
up one fret, it's no longer an E
chord. Now it's an F chord.
The reason we know that it's an
F chord is because of the root
note. The root note of the chord
will be the lowest note.
In the E chord, the root note
was the low E string played
open. Now that we have moved
the chord shape up one fret the
note on the first fret of the low E
string is now the root note. That
note is an F. Therefore we
know we're dealing with an F
chord.
This is one of the reasons why it is helpful to actually know the names of the notes on the fretboard. We can play
all 12 possible major chords with this one chord pattern by moving it up the neck.
Below on the right is an A chord, because the root falls on the A note:

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See how simple that is? We'll get into Major and Minor Moveable Patterns in just a little while. First, let's make
sure we understand the use of barre chords as a whole.
Barre Strength Building Exercise
To play a barre chord, you must be able to hold all six strings down with one finger. This can be very difficult at
first and may seem impossible to some novice students, but the muscles in your hand just need a little training.
Here is a simple exercise that you can do that will help you build build up the strength to play barre chords.
Place your 1st finger across all six strings at any fret. Position your thumb directly behind your 1st finger on the
back of the neck. Be sure to push hard! You want all six string to come in contact with the fret. Don't curve your
finger at the knuckles, keep it as flat as possible. Don't use your other fingers to help hold down your 1st finger,
by pilling them up on top. They should be free:

While holding this barre strum all six strings a few times, then move the barre up one fret and strum a few more
times. Continue to work your way up the fretboard and back down again strumming a few times at each fret.
Your hands are going to be cramping quite a bit, but that's exactly what we want. Like they always say in the
gym: no pain, no gain. Perform this exercise daily until you get to the point where there are no muted strings or
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buzzing and your hand doesn't hurt as much.

The E Style Barre Chord

What To Do:
Create a barre with your first finger on any fret. Pretend your finger is the nut of the guitar. Now use your
remaining 3 fingers to play an E chord like in the Major chord below. The fingering is a little bit different, but the
form is the same.

E Major Open E Major Barred

E Barred

Notice that there isn't too much difference in the two. We still have the same pattern position for both chords, but
as shown earlier, we've moved the pattern up one fret and changed the finger position. You've still got the notes
on the A, D, and G string being played, but this time it's up one fret. Instead of playing the open strings, we barre
all of them with our 1st finger, placed along all six strings. Since you are pressing down on the A, D, and G string,
the strings will ring out with those notes instead of the barred 1st finger behind them.
(For example: Since you have pressed down on the 2nd and 3rd frets, they will ring out instead of the
first fret notes because they come in front of your 1st finger, which is barred on the first fret.)

Fret/Chord Chart
Depending on the fret, your 1st finger barres determines what chord you are playing. For example, in an open E
chord the open E string is the root. The E chord barre on the 1st fret is an F chord and so on. This is where
learning the names of the frets comes in handy!
Fret

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Chord

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F#/Gb

G#/Ab

A#/Bb

C#/Db

D#/Eb

Other E Style Barre Chords

Not only can you take the E Major chord up the fretboard using a barre, but you can also use the open E minor,
7th, and minor 7th (m7). The same fret/chord chart below applies!

Fret

10

11

12

Chord

F#/Gb

G#/Ab

A#/Bb

C#/Db

D#/Eb

The Em Style Barre Chord

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E Minor Open

E Minor Barred

Fret/Chord Chart
You can determine the name of the chord when the root (lowest) note is played on the frets in the chart below.
Fret

10

11

12

Chord

F#/Gb

G#/Ab

A#/Bb

C#/Db

D#/Eb

Alternate Fingering
Here is a poplular alternative way of playing the E minor style barre chord. It's the same form with the exception
of the missing notes on the 5th and 6th strings. It is used a lot because it's an easer fingering than the full barre
chord. Since we're just omiting 2 notes we don't need a new fret/chord chart, because this pattern is still basically
the same.

The A Style Barre Chord

You'll want to create a barre with your first finger except you will not include the Low E string. Instead we're
using the A string as our root.

A Major Open A Major Barred

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Fret/Chord Chart
You can determine the name of the chord when the root (lowest) note is played on the frets in the chart below.
Fret

10

11

12

Chord

A#/Bb

C#/Db

D#/Eb

F#/Gb

G#/Ab

Alternate Fingering
Here is a popular alternative way of playing the A style barre chord. It's the same form with the exception of the
missing note on the 5th string. It used a lot because it's an easer fingering than the full barre chord.

Note: In addition to using only your 3rd finger in the alternate fingerings shown above, you can also use only your
4th finger as well.

A Minor Style Barre Chords

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A Minor Open

A Minor Barred

Fret/Chord Chart
You can determine the name of the chord when the root (lowest) note is played on the frets in the chart below.
Fret

10

11

12

Chord

A#/Bb

C#/Db

D#/Eb

F#/Gb

G#/Ab

Alternate Fingering
Here is a popular alternative way of playing the A minor style barre chord. It's the same form with the exception
of the missing note on the 5th string. It is used a lot because it's an easer fingering than the full barre chord.

Other A Style Barre Chords

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Fret

10

11

12

Chord

A#/Bb

C#/Db

D#/Eb

F#/Gb

G#/Ab

Video Reference: Much more material is covered in our Strumming School DVD.
Please refer to Chapter 2 "Barre Chords" on the DVD for additional information.

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