Thursday, December 25, 2008

Left handed Guitar Barre Chords

Once you have the concept of making left handed guitar basic chords down and feel farely comfortable with it, you may want to move on and learn how to make these same chords in a different way on other parts of the guitar neck. They are known as barre chords. Don't be intimidated by how you see others using barre chords because they seem to be playing all over the neck while you are used to keeping your right hand at a safe position around the bottom three frets. Some of these higher up the neck chords may even be easier for you because you don't have to stretch and manipulate your fingers as much as you would at the bottom of the fret board. So let's get started.
Scroll down and find the picture and diagram of the barre A chord. The first thing that you should teach yourself and become accustomed to is laying your index finger across the entire width of the fret board so that you can press all six strings clearly and unmuffled. That means that you must use the entire bottom of your index finger. Practice strumming the strings and going up and down the neck using only that one finger. You will notice that it is rather difficult to make all of the strings ring clear. Once you start adding your other fingers to the chord it gets easier and you will notice that your right hand has more strength and versatility. Lets make the chord. Place your index finger across the fret board at the fifth fret we'll call this the base fret. Place your middle finger on the G string at the sixth fret. Place your third finger on the seventh fret of the D string. Place your pinkie on the seventh fret of the A string. OK now what about the low E string? We are out of fingers. You should already be pressing the low E and high E with your index finger laying across the fret board. Practice the barre chord and compare the sound with the basic chord at the bottom of the neck. They should sound the same.
Notice in the picture that the B7 chord is played the exact same way as the A, only that the base fret is the seventh fret. I just noticed that I don't have pictures for the F and G barre chords. I'll have to post those before I go any further but you should have plenty to practice with until then.

2 comments:

  1. Hi Ben,

    I run a guitar tab website--I really dig your site. I'm actually a lefty as well, but I play the standard way with my left hand on the neck. My aunt strums with her left hand--I always wondered how it would be if I had started that way. Anyways, I'm an acoustic guitarist starting to get into a little bit of electric. Are you interested in a link exchange?

    Best,
    Chris

    ReplyDelete

Ben Willis demonstrating the "left handed upside down guitar method".


A chord


B Chord


C Chord


D Chord


E Chord


F Chord


G Chord


B Barre Chord


D Barre Chord

Contact Info

E-mail Ben Willis at
bwillismusic@gmail.com