Jam Babble

Barre chords are the next step after you master your major and minor chords in the first position. If you read my post from yesterday on beginning guitar chords then you probably saw the video explaining the basic major and minor chords and their positions.

The next step after you master those (and also even for F & B major chords) is barre chords. This is a difficult beginner skill to learn. I know because I struggled with it for quite some time when I first started out and I still find my index finer gets tired when I’m playing a song that is primarily barre chords.

I’ve found another great video today that will give a short introduction to barre chords, it’s just below. This video is from the learn to play guitar dvd series by Legacy Learning Systems. The complete program is called Learn and Master Guitar and it’s probably the best self study guitar program I’ve come across.

I have a copy of the older version which was 10 dvds. The new expanded edition has 20 DVDs with it. There’s a link to the course in the side bar of my blog under blog roll, Beginner guitar dvds.

OK back to our discussion of barre chords.

When you’re first learning your major and minor chords the issue is often getting your fingers to cramp into the position of an E, A or a D. Once you throw in a barre there it becomes a bit more difficult because you still need to make that same formation but now you also have to compress all the strings on a fret.

The biggest trouble beginners run into when playing barre chords is they are “blunting” some of the strings. This means you don’t have all the strings compressed down enough and you end up getting a dull blunted sound from those strings. Usually it’s the B, G and sometimes D strings that are the culprit.

Don’t get frustrated by this it happens to all beginners and practice will make perfect with this particular task. I would suggest you first learn the F major chord, then move up to the 5th fret, same fingering and position that will be an A chord. That is the easiest position of barre chords to learn.

After you get those down move onto the harder variations which in my opinion would be B, D (on the 5th fret) C, (on the 3rd fret) and so on.

Ok, so that’s an intro to the concept of barre chords now take a quick peek at this video below of Steve Krenz. He’s the instructor from Learn and Master guitar. He’ll provide a brief overview of starting to play barre chords.

If you’re on the journey of teaching yourself to play guitar using videos on YouTube and other free resources I’m sure the question has come up when do I start learning chords, and what chords do I need to learn?

When you first start out you’ll want to stick to the basic major and minor chords and avoid barre chords. If you try barre chords too early it can be discouraging. Your fingers aren’t strong enough yet and over all you’re not used to the positioning of your hands and fingers.

In this post I want to introduce you to the most important beginner guitar chords. I’ve found a great video that shows you the correct finger positioning as well as hand positioning for each chord so you can watch it being done and then practice on your own.

I’ve learned a lot using guitar lesson dvds over the last year so I can say from experience that using videos to further your understanding of guitar is probably the best method outside taking a private lesson from someone.

Beginning Guitar Chords

OK here are the chords the video is going to cover for you:

• Em
• E
• C
• A
• Am
• D
• G
• F (there is a second way to play F besides what the video shows, they show a barre chord)
• B (don’t get discouraged by B yet, it is a barre chord but you’ll get it just take your time

Knowing these basic major and minor chords will allow you to grab some chord progressions on the web of your favourite songs. Don’t get discouraged right away since it takes some time to

1. Be able to form and hold the chord correctly
2. Switch from one chord to another smoothly

Learning these chords is the beginning, but practicing them and learning to switch between them smoothly with varying strumming patterns is when you really start movin!

So here it is: Guitar Chords for Beginners Enjoy!

This is a discussion I’ve seen a lot of on different music boards & guitar lesson websites. Beginner guitar players want to know what’s better to start out on, an electric guitar or an acoustic guitar.

From what I’ve read and researched it seems that the Fender Strat Pack is probably the most popular beginner guitar set out there, although this doesn’t mean that you should grab an electric to start with.

Here are a few things to consider when you’re first starting out and buying your first gutiar.

1.) What type of music do you like?

Myself I’m a big fan of acoustic type music. Some of my favourite tunes are acoustic versions of big pop hits so for me I rarely play an electric guitar. Since when most of us start out learning to play the guitar we do it because we dream of one day being able to play our favourite songs it makes sense that we take that into consideration when choosing what type of instrument we learn on.

For me, if I was into heavy hard rock then learning on an acoustic guitar wouldn’t be very fulfilling to me. I’d want to get that big CRUNCH sound that hard rock bands such as Nickel Back are getting on their recordings (NOTE: you will not get that big of a sound from a starter guitar and amp ).

How ever if you’re more into artists like Jack Johnson or other singer song writers then an acoustic guitar would likely make you feel you’re making bigger progress.

Take this point into consideration before you buy.

2.) It can hurt your Fingers

Learning on a acoustic guitar from the start can be harder on your fingers. The strings are a heavier gage and there’s generally more action between the strings and the neck. So when you’re first starting out your fingers are going to be sore. In contrast on an electric guitar the strings are lighter and there’s less space between the strings and the neck.

Many beginners find it tough to start out on an acoustic because it just seems too hard. Their not getting the right sounds from their chords, they’re finding it tough to compress all the strings when playing barre chords etc. From this stand point an electric makes a lot more sense when starting out.

3.) How much cash do you want to spend?

You can get a beginner electric of acoustic for a pretty low price. I’ve seen both acoustics & electrics for around a hundred bucks. Of course to get the most fulfillment from your electric you’ll also want a small practice amp. This might put your over all price up towards the $200 mark.

Few beginners will purchase both up front, so if you’re plan is to own both in the next few years I say start with an electric, learn the basics and then spend a few bucks on an acoustic.

It will be easier on your hands, you’ll feel better about your progress and you’ll eventually end up with both an acoustic and an electric.