Learn to Play Guitar Chords 2

I'm going to talk to you about some chords that are a little more advanced than the open chords we've been playing. They are called barre chords, and they use your index finger to barre all of the strings at one fret. This means that your index finger is placed over all of the strings at that fret, effectively creating another nut.

To create the barre, place your thumb tip on the underside of the guitar, then hold your index finger over all of the strings on the other side and squeeze. It is common to use the side of your index finger (closest to your thumb) so the rest of your fingers are free to play. Do what is most comfortable to you.

Two of the most common are the F chord and the B chord.

X means do not play
0 means play string without fretting
1: index finger
2: middle finger
3: ring finger
4: little finger


F chord:
'Barre' at the first fret
e -|-1-|---|---|---|
B -|-1-|---|---|---|
G -|---|-2-|---|---|
D -|---|---|-4-|---|
A -|---|---|-3-|---|
E -|-1-|---|---|---|

B chord:
'Barre' at the second fret, but only touch E string with the tip of your finger so it does not play.
e -|---|-1-|---|---|
B -|---|---|---|-3-|
G -|---|---|---|-3-|
D -|---|---|---|-3-|
A -|---|-1-|---|---|
E X|---|---|---|---|

B chord version 2:
e -|---|-1-|---|---|
B -|---|---|---|-4-|
G -|---|---|---|-3-|
D -|---|---|---|-3-|
A -|---|-1-|---|---|
E X|---|---|---|---|

Don't worry if you can't form these chords properly at first - they aren't easy. Your hand may get tired very fast as well, but it will strengthen over time and you'll be able to play whole songs just using barre chords.

These chords are important because the same basic chord 'shapes' are used for many other chords on the fretboard. For example, if you move the F chord shape up 2 frets so that you are barring the 3rd fret, as below:
'Barre' at the third fret


e -|---|---|-1-|---|---|---|
B -|---|---|-1-|---|---|---|
G -|---|---|---|-2-|---|---|
D -|---|---|---|---|-4-|---|
A -|---|---|---|---|-3-|---|
E -|---|---|-1-|---|---|---|


Then you have a G chord! Try it... it sounds almost exactly like the open version of the G chord you have already learned because it is made up of the same notes (check the fretboard diagram).