Progress Better By Practicing Guitar Progressions

What we have covered up until now are the basics of playing the guitar. It's very important that you master first the basics before jumping in to advanced guitar lessons and techniques because you simply won't go anywhere if your skill set isn't complete. It's like going to a war without enough ammunition or proper training. The chance of survival is very slim.

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You don't want something like that to happen, don't you?

Easy A: Playing Minor, Dominant 7th, Minor 7th, and Major 7th Barre Chords Based on A

Would you agree with me if I'll say that playing the barre-A chord form is EASY?

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In this post, I'd like to talk about the rest of the A-based barre chord forms. I guess, by now, you don't need those technical explanations anymore. Anyway, if you find something hard to understand, feel free to skim through my previous posts.

So, I'll just go ahead and give you the chord fingerings, alright?

And of course, I've provided some progressions too. Practice it before proceeding to the succeeding chord forms.

Okay, here they are...

Playing All 12 Major Chords Using The B-chord Form

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Knowing how to play B-chord as a barre chord allows you to play every major chord by simply moving up the neck. You simply need to know the name of the note that you are playing on its root string, the 5th string, to determine the name of the chord that you are playing.

For your quick reference about the notes of the 5th string on specific frets, see the table below:

Playing Major Barre Chords Based on A

In the subsequent posts, I will be introducing to you another major group of barre chords, the A-based barre chords. The A-based major barre chord looks like an open A chord but with different fingering. This group of barre chords takes its letter name from the fret on the 5th string (A-String) at which you place your barre.

How to finger the A-based major barre chord

1. Finger an open A chord, but instead of using the normal fingering of 1-2-3, use 2-3-4.

Playing E-based Minor 7th Barre Chords

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Minor 7th chords have a softer, jazzier, and more complex sound than its chord siblings do. You can form a minor 7th E-based barre chord by simply combining the actions you take to change major to minor and major to dominant 7th. In short, you only need to lift two fingers off a major barre chord and get a minor 7th chord.

Follow these steps:

Playing E-based Dominant 7th Barre Chords

In contrast to major chords, dominant 7th chords or plain 7th chords have a sharper and a more complex sound. Also, switching to a barre dominant 7th chord from a major barre chord is a no-brainer - you just need to lift a single finger.

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Simply follow these steps to play an F7 chord:

Playing E-based Minor Barre Chords

Now it's time to add other chord qualities into your repertoire. Playing a minor, a dominant 7th, or a minor 7th in its barre form is very easy just like playing a major barre. Soon enough, as you continue to practice, you'll notice that everything gets a lot easier.

Minor chords

The following simple steps describe how to play the Fm (F-minor) barre chord:

1. Play an F major barre chord. See my previous about playing major barre chords based on E and learn how to play an F Major chord.

How To Build Confidence In Playing Barre Chords

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A good way to build your comfort and confidence in playing barre chords is by practicing a progression, which is a series of chords. The image below shows the exercise. Take note of the correct first-finger fret placement for each chord.

For this exercise, you must only use barre chords. It can be very tiring at first to get all the strings to ring out clearly. Try to release the pressure on your left-hand fingers when sliding from one chord to another. You may sometimes feel that your left-hand is starting to cramp. If you do, try to keep at it and feel the burn in order to develop the stamina and strength you need to play barre chords.

How To Play Major Barre Chords Based on E

1. Play an open E chord, but instead of using the normal 2-3-1 left-hand fingering, use fingers 3-4-2.

2. Lay your first finger down across all six strings on the other side of the nut (toward the tuning pegs).

How To Raise The BARRE Of Excellence

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After spending a great deal of time learning the basic open position chords, we move on to the world of barre chords. It is already an achievement to be able to play the open position chords since almost all kinds of songs use them. However, open chords have limitations because you are only confined in playing chords up to the third fret. But there will be instances that you need to play chords which do not include open strings. In these situations, guitarists will often resort to playing "barre chords" or simply "bar".