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Playing bar chords on a guitar is easier than many people think. A bar chord is simply an
open chord slid into a new position on the neck. Your first finger is used to fret the
strings that would've been left open in the original chord. Your first finger, used this
way, is called the "bar" (sometimes "barre"). There are several reasons for learning bar chords. Among these: Bar chords are typically related to thier root note. The root of Emaj for example, is E. In an Emaj open chord, the root note (E) is on the sixth string. This is the basis behind bar chords. All chords can be moved up or down the fingerboard. The chord type (in this case Major) doesn't change. But, the chord name changes to whatever note is on the sixth string. We call this a sixth string root bar chord. To play most bar chords, it is necessary to change your fingering slightly from the open chord. This is because we'll need our first finger to fret the notes the were open in the original chord.  As you can see, the first finger was made "available" by fretting the open chord with fingers, 2, 3 and 4. Sliding each note up one fret on the fingerbard will change the Emaj chord to an Fmaj chord except that the open strings are out of sync with the rest of the chord. They are one fret too low or one half step flat.  Resolve this and complete the chords by using the side of your first finger to fret the "open" strings.  All bar chords are played this way. The first finger is used to bring open notes into relation with thier position in the open chord shape. It is possible to play any open chord shape as a bar chord but most commonly, Emaj and Amaj are used. These are sometimes referred to as E forms and A forms but referencing these by the position of their root note is more accurate. |