Barre chords don't have to be scary! Here's an introduction for beginners. :)

If you're following my Beginner's Course, you'll have already come across the F barre chord. In this lesson, we'll move that shape around your guitar neck to play other barre chords.

If you have the F chord mastered, it's time to expand your chord repertoire. We'll look at Major and Minor barre chords, and it's way easier than you might imagine. :)

But why are we looking at barre chords at this stage?

Why Learn Barre Chords In the Beginner Stage?

At Grade 3, which is Advancing Beginner territory, it's time to consolidate all the material from the Beginner's Course. This includes chords, embellishments, strumming patterns, scales, and more. I recommend 3-6 months for consolidation time. :)

In this revision phase, you're bound to find songs that use barre chords. And we don't want to let one barre chord stop us from learning a great song!

So we'll look at how to play the most common barre grips, taking advantage of the shapes we already know. This lesson is a little taste. We dive deep into barre chords in the Intermediate grades. :)

Taking The Sting Out Of Barre Chords

Most beginners are scared by barre chords! But you should try them even if you don't feel 100% ready. The only potential issue is overexpectation: expecting to nail them and getting disheartened when you realize they're too tricky.

Regardless, I encourage you to have a go. It's useful to get a feel for them ahead of time, and they might be easier than you thought.

If you have big, strong fingers, you might find barre chords easier than some open chords. :)

🎸 Making The Jump: If you find these chords tricky, ask yourself what you need to work on. This could be the names on strings 6 and 5, shifting power chords around the neck, thumb position, or hand strength.

Let's discuss what skills you need before you can tackle these chords.

Beginner Checklist

You need to have these skills under your fingers before looking at barre chords:

The F barre chord: if you struggle with it, spend some time on it then continue with the rest of this lesson.
The notes on the two thickest strings. You don't need to recognize them instantly – it's enough if you can work them out quickly.
How to play power chords and move them around the neck. Knowing the notes on strings 6 and 5 helps.

I strongly suggest you work on these areas before starting this lesson. :) If that's all cool, let's get to those barre chords!

Exploring E-Shape Major Barre Chords

Let's start with our F Major barre chord and discover what new Major chords we can play by moving this shape up and down the neck.

Play the F chord using the E shape: 133211. Finger 1 barres fret 1, finger 3 frets 5:3 (string 5, fret 3), finger 4 plays 4:3 (string 4, fret 3), and finger 2 frets 3:2. This is an E-shape chord because fingers 2, 3, and 4 form the shape of the open E chord. :)

💡 This is a Moveable Shape: You can move this shape up and down the neck to get new Major chords. F Major is the hardest of these – and you can already play it. So the rest should be pretty straightforward. :)

For example, if you slide the whole shape up four frets so that finger 1 barres fret 5, you have an A Major chord (577655). This is because the note under finger 1 on string 6, the root note, is A.

Notice that the positions of the fingers relative to one another don't change. :) If we move this whole shape down one fret, we get a G# Major chord (466544). Now the root note is at 6:4: G#.

🤔 G# or Ab?: G# Major (466544) is harmonically the same as Ab Major (466544). The name we give this chord depends on the context, so these chords are called enharmonic equivalents. If you're doing my Theory Course, you'll know this stuff already. :)

Use F Chord to Play Any Major Chord

Now, move back to the F chord, and see if you can move the shape up one fret at a time, playing a different Major chord in each position. We have F (133211), F# (244322), G (355433), G# (466544), A (577655), A# (688766), B (799877), and so on. So this one shape is the basis for many major chords. :)

This trick is handy for songs with weird chords in them. Bands like The Beatles throw in unusual chords all the time! For example, there's no way to play a G# chord with open chords. This is the beauty of barre chords – you can play ANY chord with them. Chords like G# then become as easy as an F chord!

💡 This is a taster designed to help you play a few songs and explore barre chords. We go into much more depth with barre chords in the Intermediate Grades.

We've looked at a Major barre chord shape – now let's go minor. :)

Exploring A-Shape Minor Barre Chords

We can even play minor chords with the F shape! How is that possible?

Let's look at how to play a Bm chord. Grab an F Barre Chord (133211). To get to Bm, we move this entire shape down one string and up one fret. You should now be holding X24432, with finger 1 at fret 2. You're playing the root note at 5:2, which is B, and holding a minor shape. So this chord is called Bm.

🚨 Bm is a super-common chord often found in songs in the key of G and D. It’s likely you’ll come across it, and now you know how to play it! It’s pretty easy if you know F already.

Notice that string 6 is muted – let the tip of finger 1 lightly touch it so it doesn't ring out. Finger 1 shouldn't be hanging off the end of the fretboard. :)

The barre is now only fretting 5:2 and 1:2, so the finger can be rounder than it was for the E-Shape Major Chord. And even if the barre goes a little wrong and you don't fret 1:2 properly (X2443X), the chord still sounds good.

Now, notice there are no open strings. That means this chord is moveable. :) If we move it up one fret, we get Cm (X35543). This is because the root note is at 5:3, which is the note C, and we're holding a minor shape.

🧐 Cm is super common in Beatles songs in the key of G. The chords often change from C to Cm (chord IV to chord IVm). This is one of the Beatles tricks that bands like Oasis draw on a lot.

We also have Dm (X57765), Em (X79987), Ebm (X68876), and C#m (X46654), a chord often found in songs in A. :) Again, this shape enables us to play any minor chord we like.

Let's sneak peek at the barre chord that people most struggle with: the A Shape Major Barre Chord!

Exploring A-Shape Major Barre Chords

Let's check out this shape with an example. Here's a D Major chord using the A shape: X5777X. Finger 1 frets 5:5 and mutes strings 6 and 1, while finger 3 barres strings 4 to 2 at fret 7. It's harder than it looks!

🤔 Why Is This An A-shape Chord? This D Major chord is an A-shape chord because the notes under finger 3 form a shape that looks like an open A chord. We play the mini-barre because it’s really awkward to use fingers 2, 3, and 4 for the notes on fret 7.

Now you have two options for the awkward major chords! Can you think of two ways to play a C# Major chord? Hint: Consider the two Major barre chord shapes and where you can find C# on each string.

Okay, 6:9 and 4:4 are both the note C#. So you can play C# as an E shape with finger 1 on fret 9 (9 11 11 10 9 9), and as an A shape with finger 1 at fret 4 (X4666X).

As I said, this is tricky. Don't worry if it seems impossible right now! I suggest you hold back from this shape until you're in the Intermediate grades. :) Speaking of tricky barre chords...

Exploring E-Shape Minor Barre Chords

As with the A Major barre chord shape, but don't worry if these are too tricky.

Let's look at a super-common E-Shape Minor Barre Chord: F#m (244222). To play it, grab an F# Major Chord (244322) and lift off finger 2. Now you have F#m. :) This is like lifting off finger 1 from E (022100) to get Em (022000).

🚨 Sorting Out String 3: The main issue with this barre chord is string 3. You might find it doesn’t ring out properly. If that’s the case, you have to work on your barre strength. Finger 1 frets four notes at the same time – it needs to be strong!

If you have big, strong hands, the F#m should be okay. But if you have small or weak hands, it'll take some practice. In any case, it's good to try it. And the more you play it, the stronger your hand will get. :)

Next Steps for Advancing Beginners

I suggest you find some songs that mostly use open chords but have one barre chord - often you find one in the bridge. Give them a try. :)

This lesson gives you a taste of learning barre chords for real. And it'll expand your repertoire. :) If these grips are tricky for you, figure out what skills you're missing.

💡 Consolidate, consolidate, consolidate! Don't be in a rush to learn all these new chords. You’re much better to practice your open chords and make sure you can make good music with them. Build a solid foundation, then look for new techniques.

If you're an advancing beginner guitarist, meaning you know open chords, perhaps one or two barre chords, and some power chords, go and check out the Grade 3 lessons on the website. I've added a heap of fun things you might want to try.

We look at how to move basic chord shapes, interesting strumming patterns, picking out individual notes while strumming, barre chords with open strings, and more! It's not too difficult, but it can add tons of interest to your playing.

Have loads of fun exploring these barre chord shapes! Laters. :)

👉 Ready for more? Keep working on your Beginner Consolidation!