Confession #11 - Learn Root 6 Barre Chords!

Barre chords are very popular chords for a few reasons:

• One, they are pretty easy to play,
• Two, they allow you to play a bunch of chords using only one chord shape, and
• Three, the bottom strings of the chord make a cool rock sound.

So what is a barre chord?

WARNING!  Barre chords can be very hard on your fretting hand.  Make sure that you warm-up first (see Confession #6 - Warm-Up!).  If you start to feel any pain or discomfort in your fretting had, stop immediately!  If you keep on playing, you can do serious damage to your fretting hand.


FIRST, THE E CHORD

Let's take a look at a basic open E chord.  Generally, you will use fingers 1, 2 and 3 to play the open E chord, like this:

But what if you used fingers 2,3 and 4, like this:

Then finger 1 (your index finger) would be free to do other things.  No, I don't mean making rude gestures at the drummer.

Let's use the 2, 3, 4 fingering, and then slide each finger up one fret like this:

If you strum all of the strings now, its not going to sound very musical.  Why is that?

When we slid fingers 2, 3 and 4 up one fret, we changed the pitch of 3 of the 6 strings by 1 semi-tone (see Confession #8 - Learn the Major Scale! if you are unsure of what a semi-tone is), but the pitch of the other 3 strings was unchanged.


TURN AN E CHORD INTO AN F CHORD

How do we change the pitch of the other 3 strings by 1 semi-tone as well?  We do this by barring finger 1 across all the strings at the first fret, like this:

Now the pitch of strings 1, 2 and 6 have also been changed by 1 semi-tone.  The resulting chord is an F chord.

By barring finger 1 across all the strings at the first fret, we are using our finger as a moveable nut (the 0th fret is the guitar's nut).

TIP:  It takes a fair bit of pressure with finger 1 to properly fret strings 1, 2 and 6.  If you aren't using enough pressure, they either won't sound properly or at all.  Make sure you are barring just behind the fret.  Also, tuck you elbow in at your side.  This will provide some leverage to create the needed pressure.


NOW A G CHORD

We can take this shape that our 4 fingers are making and slide it up and down the neck to make different chords.  For example, if your barre the 3rd fret while holding the same shape with fingers 2, 3 and 4, you'll be making a G chord, like this:

How do you know that this is a G chord?  Here is the G chord chart again, but this time with the names of the notes, instead of the fingerings:

This is a G chord because the note at the 3rd fret of the sixth string is a G.  That's the note that gives the chord its name.


ROOT 6 BARRE CHORD / E SHAPE BARRE CHORD

Because the name of the chord comes from the name of the note on the sixth string, a barre chord based on the shape of an open E chord is called a "root 6 barre chord".  The note on the 6th string is the root note of the chord.

Because it is based on the shape of an open E chord, it is also sometimes referred to as an "E shape barre chord".


PUTTING BARRE CHORDS TO WORK

Now that you know how to play a root 6 barre chord, you can play a whole bunch of different chords, just by moving this shape up and down the neck.

This week's video includes 2 examples that are based entirely on root 6 barre chords.  The first example is a simple chord progression based on the I, IV and V chords in the key of E (being E, A and B major chords). Note the use of the 'folk rhythm' (see Confession #10 - Learn the Folk Rhythm!) over the IV chord (i.e. the A chord played at the 5th fret).

The second example is something I came up with that uses E major and E7 shape barre chords.  Lift finger 4 (your pinky) and you'll be playing a 7 chord.  In case you are wondering, I am changing keys in this progression. Don't ask me which ones.  I came up with this by ear and thought that it sounded cool.

BONUS - LEARNING THE FRETBOARD

As you are experimenting with the root 6 barre chord, you will be learning the names of the notes on your sixth string.

Note in the chart for the G chord above, that the note at the 5th fret of the fourth string was also a G.

So, once you learn where a note is on the 6th string, you now also know where to find that same note on the 4th string, like this:

As you are learning your root 6 bare chords, you are also learning the names of the noes on the sixth string  and the names of the notes on the fourth string.


BONUS - COOL ROCK SOUND

Take another look at the G chord above.  The notes on the bottom 3 strings are G - D - G,  the second G being one octave higher than the first.  From a theory perspective, these notes are the root, the fifth and the octave in the key of G (I'll explain the theory in a future confession).  If you play just these bottom 3 strings, you get that cool rock sound.

Turn up your amp, turn on the overdrive channel, strum the bottom 3 strings, and let them ring!


Next Week's Confession - Learn Root 5 Barre Chords!

Confession #10 - Learn the 'Folk' Rhythm!

The 'folk' rhythm is a very common rhythm pattern in music.  It is used as a strumming pattern in hundreds of songs (e.g. The Eagles 'Best of my Love').  It is used as a rhythm pattern in melodies (e.g. the descending scale pattern on the B string in The Cure's 'Just Like Heaven').  It is used across many genres of music.

This is one rhythm pattern you need to have in your arsenal of guitar skills!


BASIC FOLK RHYTHM

At its most basic, the pattern goes like this (using an open G chord):

The D's and U's under the TAB stand for Downstroke and Upstroke.

Some beginner guitar books suggest that you count a continuous 1/8 note pattern like this "1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &", but only hit the strings with your pick on the appropriate beats.  I call BS on this!

If you are counting "1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &", then you are making a different rhythm pattern with your voice than the one that you are tying to play with your right hand!  This will only cause confusion.

At some point, you'll want to separate your strumming hand from your voice so that you can sing and play, but now is not the time for that (I'll cover singing and playing in a future confession).

What you count should be the same as what you are trying to play, like this:

    1      2    &   (3)    &    4
    Ooone  Two  annnnnnnd  and  Foooour

To be clear, your right hand will be moving up and down in a continuous 1/8 note pattern.  It has to if you are to play this rhythm pattern.  But don't focus on this.  Focus on the rhythm you want to hear.

VARIATIONS

There are a few variations that can be made by adding in some extra eight notes, like this:

Variation 1

Variation 1 would be counted like this:


    1      2    &   (3)    &    4     &
    Ooone  Two  annnnnnnd  and  Four  and

Variation 2

Variation 2 would be counted like this:


    1    &    2    &   (3)    &    4     &
    One  and  Two  annnnnnnd  and  Four  and


Variation 3

The Eagles 'Tequila Sunrise' takes it one step further and adds in a couple of 16th notes, like this:

Variation 3 would be counted like this:


    1    &    uh  2    &   (3)    &    4     &
    One  and  uh  Two  annnnnnnd  and  Four  and


Note that in all the previous examples, we were strictly using downstrokes on beats 1, 2, and 4, and upstrokes on the 'ands' of each beat.

Variation 3 requires you two adjust your approach.  The strum on the 'and' of beat one is a downstroke!  It will take some getting used to, but it is doable with practice.

Master the previous 3 examples before trying this one.


Next Week's Confession - Learn Root 6 Barre Chords!

Confession #9 - Keep Your Calluses Up! (Warm-up! - Exercise #3)

Everybody knows that line about bleeding fingers from Bryan Adams "The Summer of '69".  To the average person on the street, this probably sounds like hyperbole   But all beginning guitars players know that Bryan was not making this stuff up.

When you first start playing, the finger tips on your fretting hand are going to hurt!  And the longer your practice session, the more they are going to hurt.  The good news is that your body will build up calluses on your fingertips.  Once this happens, the pain goes away.

So one of your goals as a guitar player is to develop your calluses and to keep them up.  The key to developing your calluses is daily practice.  The key to keeping them up is daily practice.

If you only pick up your guitar once a week, your calluses will be slow to develop.  If you play every day to the point where your fingertips start hurting and then stop, they will develop much faster.  Even if all you do is 5 minutes of warm-up exercises, this will speed their development.

Once they've developed, you need to keep them up.  Again all this takes is regular, and preferably daily, practice.

Warm-up! - Exercise #3

Warm-up! - Exercise #3 is similar to Warm-up! - Exercise #1, but now we only play two notes per string.  Skipping strings like this helps with your picking hand development, and playing only two notes per string helps develop your finger independence in your fretting hand.

As with Warm-up! - Exercise #1, I like to start Warm-up! - Exercise #3 by playing each note twice, and then switching to playing each note only once.

Warm-up! - Exercise #3

Now you've got 3 different warm-up exercises to use in your practice sessions!


Next Week's Confession - Learn the Folk Rhythm!

Confession #8 - Learn the Major Scale! (Warm-Up! - Exercise #2)

The major scale pattern is the single most important bit of music theory you will ever learn.  It is the foundation upon which everything else is built.  So it is critical for your development as a musician that you learn this pattern.

If you've seen The Sound of Music, or even if you haven't, then you are familiar with the sound of:

do-re-mi-fa-so-la-ti-do

This is the sound of the major scale pattern.


TIME FOR SOME THEORY

In Confession #5 - Use a Metronome!, I talked about how the piano is an excellent tool for learning music theory, and showed a picture of the C major scale on the piano keyboard:

The first C is the root note of the scale (the one on the left).  The second C is called the octave (the one on the right).  If the frequency of the first C is 200Hz (Hz or Hertz means cycles per second), then the frequency of the second C is 400Hz, exactly twice is fast (see Confession #3 - Set-up your Guitar! for more on the octave).  So when you play the octave of any particular note, the frequency of the sound vibration is twice as fast.

The octave of any particular root note has a fundamental sameness as the root note. This is why it is given the same name.  It's pitch may be higher, but it has the same quality as its root note.  Thus, we will only find unique notes between a root note and its octave.

For reasons that are unknown to me, it was decided long ago that the octave should be divided up into 12 notes (well... actually, there are reasons in physics for this).  Start at the first C and count all the keys up to and including the B.  You'll find 12 notes.

For further reasons that are also unknown to me, it was decided long ago that we would ignore 5 of these 12 notes, leaving 7 notes to form the major scale. I don't think physics is to blame for this.

Notice that some of the notes of the scale have a black key between them, and others do not.  This pattern of white and black keys makes up the major scale pattern, which in the key of C is:

C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C

Whole Steps and Half Steps

Since we want to be able to play in all musical keys and not just the key of C, we need a way to describe the major scale pattern that will allow us to find it in other keys.  We do this by describing that major scale as a series of whole steps and half steps like this:

W-W-H-W-W-W-H

...where W means a whole step and H means a half-step.  

On the Piano

On the piano, a W means move up two keys (regardless of colour) and H means move up one key (regardless of colour).  If you start on the first C on the keyboard above, and apply this pattern, you will hit all the white keys and finish on the octave, like this:

C -W- D -W- E -H- F -W- G -W- A -W- B -H- C

On the Guitar

On the guitar W means move up two frets and H means move up one fret.  So, on the guitar fretboard, the pattern looks like this:

If we tuned our 6th string to a C, then starting with the open string (i.e. the root), this pattern would give us the C major scale.  Of course, our 6th string is actually tuned to an E, so playing this pattern actually gives us the E major scale:  E - F# - G# - A - B - C# - D# - E.

Tip: Applying scale patterns to open strings helps us visualize the pattern better then staying in one position and changing strings as we move up the sale.  Use this technique when learning new scales.

Now in practice, we rarely play a entire scale on just one string (but it can be quite effective - The Cure's "Just Like Heaven" uses a descending scale pattern on the 2nd string for one of its lead lines), so we need to learn a major scale pattern that allows us to stay in one position.

Warm Up Exercise #2 - Major Scale in One Position

Here is a one octave major scale pattern that starts on the third string and finishes on the first string.  The numbers 1 to 4 indicate which finger should be used for each note in the scale (where 1 is your index finger and 4 is your pinky).  If you play this pattern in 5th position (i.e. starting at the 5th fret), then you'll get the C major scale.

I like to use this pattern as part of my warm-up exercises.  I play it ascending and descending like this:

Warm-Up! - Exercise #2 - C Major Scale
(Click to Enlarge)

As mentioned in Confession #6 - Warm-up!, warm-up exercises get boring in a hurry, so move this pattern up and down the neck to keep things interesting.  For example, if you start the pattern in 7th position, then you'll be playing the D major scale.  Try to get to the point where you can play the scale ascending and descending in 5th position, and then seamlessly switch to playing it in 7th position without stopping.


Next Week's Confession - Keep Your Calluses Up!

Confession #7 - Use Pivot Chords!

While you are developing your muscle memory, chord changes can be frustrating.  One trick for making some of them easier, is to look for common notes in the chords.  If there are any, it may be possible to play the first chord, keep one finger in place and switch to the next chord.  Having that one finger holding still gives you a reference point around which to finger the next chord.

In Confession #5 Use a Metronome!, I introduced the following I-vi-IV-V7 chord progression in the
key of G:

            G-Em-C-D7

Now let’s look at the fretboard diagrams for each pair of chords:

When switching from G to Em, you can leave finger 1 on the 2^nd fret of the fifth string.

When switching from Em to C, you can leave finger 2 on the 2^nd fret of the fourth string.

When switching from C to D7, you can leave finger 1 on the 1^st fret of the second string.

This concept is known as pivot chords (i.e. one finger can pivot around a common note when switching between chords).  Look for pivot opportunities when you are learning a new progression.


Next Week's Confession - Learn the Major Scale!