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GUITAR TECHNIQUE TIP OF THE MONTH Your Personal Guitar Lesson |
Photo by Robin Gentile, NYC
| BE SURE TO VISIT DOUG'S "SECRET VAULT" It contains many of Doug's Previous Guitar Technique Tips of the Month |
Have a comment?
Question?
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We would love to hear from you.
Question?
Suggestion for the website?
We would love to hear from you.
We have a Printer Friendlier (PDF) version of this article that's also easier on the eyes.
It's SO much easier to read a printed article than to read it from the computer screen.
It's SO much easier to read a printed article than to read it from the computer screen.
The Secret (Little Jennifer's Secret) of
How To Play Clear Bar Chords
By Douglas Niedt
Copyright Douglas Niedt, All Rights Reserved. This article may be reprinted, but please be
considerate and give credit to Douglas Niedt.
You are on DouglasNiedt.com
Having trouble getting your bars to sound clear and clean? Do you think your fingers are too
small or that you are just too much of a wuss to get a good bar? Let me tell you the story of
"Little Jennifer".
"Little Jennifer" was a student of mine many years ago. Jennifer was seven years old, small
frame, small hands, kind of skinny--but just a normal little girl. But she played the guitar quite
well and was able to play bar chords with no problem.
At the same time, I had a student, "Big Dennis". Dennis was in his thirties, a well-built, very
strong guy who was learning to play bar chords. But his bar chords buzzed and the effort he
exerted was considerable. I thought, "Now wait a minute, what is going on here. Little Jennifer
can play bar chords with ease and Big Dennis can't. What does Little Jennifer know that Big
Dennis doesn't?"
Well folks, here is Little Jennifer's secret. Little Jennifer knew intuitively to use her ARM
STRENGTH to hold down a bar. She had little strength in her left hand.
To hold down a bar, you pull the guitar lightly against your chest with both arms. No, you aren't
going to pull as hard as you can--just enough to hold the bar. You will not harm or affect your
guitar in any way! But don't practice this concept by holding a full bar all by itself. Keep
reading, and see below how to practice. YOU DO NOT USE THE THUMB and fingers to
squeeze the guitar neck. Those thumb muscles are relatively weak and get fatigued fairly
quickly. But the arm muscles are strong (even in a little child) and once developed will not tire
easily. The thumb is just there to stabilize the left hand and channel or direct the brute
strength of the arms to the hand and fingers. IT IS A PASSIVE, NOT ACTIVE participant in
playing the guitar, ESPECIALLY bar chords.
You are on DouglasNiedt.com
Once again, you use your arm strength to hold the bar. Pull the guitar lightly against
your chest by pulling with both arms. If you are doing it right, you will feel it in your
forearms, elbows, and/or shoulders. You will feel the guitar digging very lightly into
your chest. Again, you will not harm your guitar in any way--pull firmly, just enough to hold the
strings down with your bar, NOT with all your might! Big Dennis tried to man-handle the
instrument and in squeezing with his thumb, made matters worse, because squeezing with the
thumb tends to make the barring finger arch up or bend instead of remaining flat across the
neck, not to mention soreness and fatigue in the thumb. Little Jennifer knew intuitively to just
use her arm strength. In fact, it is a great idea to practice bar chords without the thumb on the
neck at all! (Keep reading, see below.)
A second oftentimes overlooked factor in bar technique, is that when playing a full bar, the
back knuckle or joint of the first finger (the joint closest to the wrist) must be "up". It is hard to
explain in words, but keep this knuckle or back joint even with the tip of the finger (or even
slightly higher but not so high that the finger lifts off the fretboard of course) so that the finger
lies flat on the fretboard. Many people, when struggling with a bar, pull that knuckle or back
joint down which makes the middle joint pop up slightly. No, no, no. Keep that knuckle or back
joint up!
And course it goes almost without saying that the bar finger must be close to the fret and
parallel with the fret.
Now, TRY THIS EXERCISE. In fact, this is how to teach anyone how to play a bar chord. I am
assuming your guitar is in good adjustment and that you are using strings of a reasonable
tension (using Hannabach or Aranjuez high tension strings when learning bar chords is not a
good idea--they are much higher tension than other brands--but they are excellent strings).
Set your 3rd finger on the fifth string at the 5th fret. Set your 4th finger (little finger) on the
fourth string at the 5th fret. Set your 2nd finger on the third string at the 4th fret. Be certain
that 2nd finger is parallel with the fret and perpendicular to the fretboard, not slanting or falling
over to the left. Also make certain that your thumb is in the middle of the neck, opposite the
3rd or 4th fret and fairly perpendicular to the neck and perhaps rolling over a little bit onto its
left side. Now set the 1st finger across all six strings (the bar) at the 3rd fret making sure the
back knuckle or joint is up, even with or slightly higher than the tip of the finger. Yes, you are
holding a full G major bar chord at the third fret. (I recommend the third fret because the string
tension for the bar is less at the third fret than at the first fret close to the nut). Now pull (not
with all your might, you don't need a lot of power) the guitar against your chest with both arms.
It should sound real clear. If it doesn't, play each string separately to see which string or
strings are buzzing. Sometimes it's not the bar at all that is buzzing but one of the other
fingers! That's good news because you just press a little harder with those fingers or adjust
their position slightly and all is well. Also, you may need to slightly adjust where the tip of the
bar finger falls--whether squarely on the 6th string, or perhaps a little past it to keep other
strings out of soft spots or crevices of the finger. In the beginning, ALWAYS PLACE THE BAR
LAST! That is crucial for correct positioning.
You are on DouglasNiedt.com
Don't work on getting the chord clear for more than about 15 seconds. Once your hand or
fingers get fatigued, the chord will sound worse and worse. Take a one-minute break to let the
hand recover and try again. During this time reread the instructions in the paragraph above to
Double-check that you are doing everything correctly. Then try again. Make sure that when
you pull with your arms that you don't suddenly lower that back knuckle or change the thumb
position or lean the 2nd finger over to the left towards the bar. Keep that 2nd finger
perpendicular to the fretboard and parallel with the fret. I have 100% success teaching this bar
chord to students if they follow these instructions!
Here's the real "Kicker". You should be able to play bar chords without the thumb on the neck
at all! Again, you want to take the workload off the thumb. It is the arms, not the thumb that
should be the power source. You can finger the G chord above, take the thumb off the neck
and it should come out fine as long as the bar finger stays flat and the thumb and 2nd finger
stay in their correct positions. If you want to kick it up a notch, a great and fun exercise is to
play Louie Louie with bar chords without the thumb on the neck (and with it on the neck too).
For those too young to have played or heard Louie Louie, take the G chord formation above,
but put it at the 2nd fret (the bar at the 2nd fret, producing an F# major chord). Strum the
chord three times. Then slide the chord up so the bar is at the 7th fret (B major) and strum
twice. Slide the chord up two frets to the ninth fret but take off the second finger (C# minor).
Strum three times. Slide back down two frets to the 7th fret and put the 2nd finger back down
on the third string at the 8th fret (B major again). Strum 2 times. (We are playing in the key of
F# major to avoid the bar chord at the first fret where the string tension is higher). Then repeat
the progression. But don't overdo it. If it starts sounding bad, rest and try it again in a minute. If
you are practicing without the thumb on the neck be sure to wiggle it around now and then to
be certain it is loose--you can be using your arm strength correctly and still tense up the thumb
which we don't want to do. We are trying to teach the thumb to stay relatively relaxed when
playing bar chords, putting the work load on the arms.
You are on DouglasNiedt.com
If you want to kick it up yet another notch, take a song that you play fairly well (it doesn't even
have to have any bar chords in it) and play it without the thumb on the neck. This will also
teach you how to use your arm strength and not those weak thumb muscles. Don't
misunderstand. You will not be able to play the song as well without the thumb on the neck.
The thumb is essential, but only as a stablizer, not as an active muscular participant. Playing
pieces without the thumb on the neck is just a training or awareness exercise. But do
understand this--once you make the switchover from using thumb strength to arm
strength, your playing will be far more aggressive, secure, accurate, and strong.
Remember, the louder you play, the harder you have to press down the strings with the left
hand fingers. By using your arm strength you will be able to hold the strings down hard with no
fatigue and play hard, loudly, and aggressively with the right hand. You will be more secure
and play more accurately because your left hand will not suffer from fatigue.
Once again, remember: You don't use massive amounts of strength--just enough to
get the job done. Most of the time the weight of the left arm (balanced with an almost
imperceptible pull of the right arm) is enough. Many good guitarists are actually unaware that
they play with their arm strength, not hand strength. It is often that subtle. Because the arm
and shoulder muscles are so much stronger than the small hand muscles, most of the time the
body is unaware of any real effort and certainly no strain--there is no upper body tension. If
you are playing a difficult passage requiring heavy duty bars and stretches, than yes, more
effort is required. But your body will perceive that it is exerting far less strain and overall effort if
the arm and shoulder muscles are used instead of relying heavily upon the hand muscles. In
the face of a difficult passage, many beginning guitarists panic and use a vise grip on the neck
between the thumb and fingers. They just have to re-train their bodies to use their arm
strength instead.
You are on DouglasNiedt.com
Here's a little additional sidelight to all this for the more advanced player. When playing heavy
vibrato without the thumb on the neck, guess what muscles you use to hold the notes down?
Yes, once again, it's the arm muscles!
One last comment is that upper body strength is very important for a guitarist. I recommend,
especially if you are a female, that you do light workouts to increase your arm and upper body
strength. It will work absolute wonders in your playing.
So stop struggling and use Little Jennifer's secret.
You are on DouglasNiedt.com
How To Play Clear Bar Chords
By Douglas Niedt
Copyright Douglas Niedt, All Rights Reserved. This article may be reprinted, but please be
considerate and give credit to Douglas Niedt.
You are on DouglasNiedt.com
Having trouble getting your bars to sound clear and clean? Do you think your fingers are too
small or that you are just too much of a wuss to get a good bar? Let me tell you the story of
"Little Jennifer".
"Little Jennifer" was a student of mine many years ago. Jennifer was seven years old, small
frame, small hands, kind of skinny--but just a normal little girl. But she played the guitar quite
well and was able to play bar chords with no problem.
At the same time, I had a student, "Big Dennis". Dennis was in his thirties, a well-built, very
strong guy who was learning to play bar chords. But his bar chords buzzed and the effort he
exerted was considerable. I thought, "Now wait a minute, what is going on here. Little Jennifer
can play bar chords with ease and Big Dennis can't. What does Little Jennifer know that Big
Dennis doesn't?"
Well folks, here is Little Jennifer's secret. Little Jennifer knew intuitively to use her ARM
STRENGTH to hold down a bar. She had little strength in her left hand.
To hold down a bar, you pull the guitar lightly against your chest with both arms. No, you aren't
going to pull as hard as you can--just enough to hold the bar. You will not harm or affect your
guitar in any way! But don't practice this concept by holding a full bar all by itself. Keep
reading, and see below how to practice. YOU DO NOT USE THE THUMB and fingers to
squeeze the guitar neck. Those thumb muscles are relatively weak and get fatigued fairly
quickly. But the arm muscles are strong (even in a little child) and once developed will not tire
easily. The thumb is just there to stabilize the left hand and channel or direct the brute
strength of the arms to the hand and fingers. IT IS A PASSIVE, NOT ACTIVE participant in
playing the guitar, ESPECIALLY bar chords.
You are on DouglasNiedt.com
Once again, you use your arm strength to hold the bar. Pull the guitar lightly against
your chest by pulling with both arms. If you are doing it right, you will feel it in your
forearms, elbows, and/or shoulders. You will feel the guitar digging very lightly into
your chest. Again, you will not harm your guitar in any way--pull firmly, just enough to hold the
strings down with your bar, NOT with all your might! Big Dennis tried to man-handle the
instrument and in squeezing with his thumb, made matters worse, because squeezing with the
thumb tends to make the barring finger arch up or bend instead of remaining flat across the
neck, not to mention soreness and fatigue in the thumb. Little Jennifer knew intuitively to just
use her arm strength. In fact, it is a great idea to practice bar chords without the thumb on the
neck at all! (Keep reading, see below.)
A second oftentimes overlooked factor in bar technique, is that when playing a full bar, the
back knuckle or joint of the first finger (the joint closest to the wrist) must be "up". It is hard to
explain in words, but keep this knuckle or back joint even with the tip of the finger (or even
slightly higher but not so high that the finger lifts off the fretboard of course) so that the finger
lies flat on the fretboard. Many people, when struggling with a bar, pull that knuckle or back
joint down which makes the middle joint pop up slightly. No, no, no. Keep that knuckle or back
joint up!
And course it goes almost without saying that the bar finger must be close to the fret and
parallel with the fret.
Now, TRY THIS EXERCISE. In fact, this is how to teach anyone how to play a bar chord. I am
assuming your guitar is in good adjustment and that you are using strings of a reasonable
tension (using Hannabach or Aranjuez high tension strings when learning bar chords is not a
good idea--they are much higher tension than other brands--but they are excellent strings).
Set your 3rd finger on the fifth string at the 5th fret. Set your 4th finger (little finger) on the
fourth string at the 5th fret. Set your 2nd finger on the third string at the 4th fret. Be certain
that 2nd finger is parallel with the fret and perpendicular to the fretboard, not slanting or falling
over to the left. Also make certain that your thumb is in the middle of the neck, opposite the
3rd or 4th fret and fairly perpendicular to the neck and perhaps rolling over a little bit onto its
left side. Now set the 1st finger across all six strings (the bar) at the 3rd fret making sure the
back knuckle or joint is up, even with or slightly higher than the tip of the finger. Yes, you are
holding a full G major bar chord at the third fret. (I recommend the third fret because the string
tension for the bar is less at the third fret than at the first fret close to the nut). Now pull (not
with all your might, you don't need a lot of power) the guitar against your chest with both arms.
It should sound real clear. If it doesn't, play each string separately to see which string or
strings are buzzing. Sometimes it's not the bar at all that is buzzing but one of the other
fingers! That's good news because you just press a little harder with those fingers or adjust
their position slightly and all is well. Also, you may need to slightly adjust where the tip of the
bar finger falls--whether squarely on the 6th string, or perhaps a little past it to keep other
strings out of soft spots or crevices of the finger. In the beginning, ALWAYS PLACE THE BAR
LAST! That is crucial for correct positioning.
You are on DouglasNiedt.com
Don't work on getting the chord clear for more than about 15 seconds. Once your hand or
fingers get fatigued, the chord will sound worse and worse. Take a one-minute break to let the
hand recover and try again. During this time reread the instructions in the paragraph above to
Double-check that you are doing everything correctly. Then try again. Make sure that when
you pull with your arms that you don't suddenly lower that back knuckle or change the thumb
position or lean the 2nd finger over to the left towards the bar. Keep that 2nd finger
perpendicular to the fretboard and parallel with the fret. I have 100% success teaching this bar
chord to students if they follow these instructions!
Here's the real "Kicker". You should be able to play bar chords without the thumb on the neck
at all! Again, you want to take the workload off the thumb. It is the arms, not the thumb that
should be the power source. You can finger the G chord above, take the thumb off the neck
and it should come out fine as long as the bar finger stays flat and the thumb and 2nd finger
stay in their correct positions. If you want to kick it up a notch, a great and fun exercise is to
play Louie Louie with bar chords without the thumb on the neck (and with it on the neck too).
For those too young to have played or heard Louie Louie, take the G chord formation above,
but put it at the 2nd fret (the bar at the 2nd fret, producing an F# major chord). Strum the
chord three times. Then slide the chord up so the bar is at the 7th fret (B major) and strum
twice. Slide the chord up two frets to the ninth fret but take off the second finger (C# minor).
Strum three times. Slide back down two frets to the 7th fret and put the 2nd finger back down
on the third string at the 8th fret (B major again). Strum 2 times. (We are playing in the key of
F# major to avoid the bar chord at the first fret where the string tension is higher). Then repeat
the progression. But don't overdo it. If it starts sounding bad, rest and try it again in a minute. If
you are practicing without the thumb on the neck be sure to wiggle it around now and then to
be certain it is loose--you can be using your arm strength correctly and still tense up the thumb
which we don't want to do. We are trying to teach the thumb to stay relatively relaxed when
playing bar chords, putting the work load on the arms.
You are on DouglasNiedt.com
If you want to kick it up yet another notch, take a song that you play fairly well (it doesn't even
have to have any bar chords in it) and play it without the thumb on the neck. This will also
teach you how to use your arm strength and not those weak thumb muscles. Don't
misunderstand. You will not be able to play the song as well without the thumb on the neck.
The thumb is essential, but only as a stablizer, not as an active muscular participant. Playing
pieces without the thumb on the neck is just a training or awareness exercise. But do
understand this--once you make the switchover from using thumb strength to arm
strength, your playing will be far more aggressive, secure, accurate, and strong.
Remember, the louder you play, the harder you have to press down the strings with the left
hand fingers. By using your arm strength you will be able to hold the strings down hard with no
fatigue and play hard, loudly, and aggressively with the right hand. You will be more secure
and play more accurately because your left hand will not suffer from fatigue.
Once again, remember: You don't use massive amounts of strength--just enough to
get the job done. Most of the time the weight of the left arm (balanced with an almost
imperceptible pull of the right arm) is enough. Many good guitarists are actually unaware that
they play with their arm strength, not hand strength. It is often that subtle. Because the arm
and shoulder muscles are so much stronger than the small hand muscles, most of the time the
body is unaware of any real effort and certainly no strain--there is no upper body tension. If
you are playing a difficult passage requiring heavy duty bars and stretches, than yes, more
effort is required. But your body will perceive that it is exerting far less strain and overall effort if
the arm and shoulder muscles are used instead of relying heavily upon the hand muscles. In
the face of a difficult passage, many beginning guitarists panic and use a vise grip on the neck
between the thumb and fingers. They just have to re-train their bodies to use their arm
strength instead.
You are on DouglasNiedt.com
Here's a little additional sidelight to all this for the more advanced player. When playing heavy
vibrato without the thumb on the neck, guess what muscles you use to hold the notes down?
Yes, once again, it's the arm muscles!
One last comment is that upper body strength is very important for a guitarist. I recommend,
especially if you are a female, that you do light workouts to increase your arm and upper body
strength. It will work absolute wonders in your playing.
So stop struggling and use Little Jennifer's secret.
You are on DouglasNiedt.com
BE SURE TO VISIT DOUG'S "SECRET VAULT"
It contains many of Doug's Previous
Guitar Technique Tips of the Month
It contains many of Doug's Previous
Guitar Technique Tips of the Month
Have a comment?
Question?
Suggestion for the website?
We would love to hear from you.
Question?
Suggestion for the website?
We would love to hear from you.
We have a Printer Friendlier (PDF) version of this article that's also easier on the eyes.
It's SO much easier to read a printed article than to read it from the computer screen.
It's SO much easier to read a printed article than to read it from the computer screen.
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Purchase a ONE-YEAR SUBSCRIPTION to:
DOUGLAS NIEDT'S GUITAR TECHNIQUE TIP OF THE MONTH
Doug's Guitar Technique Tip of the Month will be sent to you monthly. These are the best on the
Internet. No one else's technique articles and videos even come close. Most of the written tips run
over 20 pages. Most of the videos run from 15-30 minutes. The tips are thorough and the
production is excellent. Check out the free tips in Doug's Vault for a sampling.
A one-year subscription (12 tips) is only $24. That is only $2 per tip.
Purchase a ONE-YEAR SUBSCRIPTION to:
DOUGLAS NIEDT'S GUITAR TECHNIQUE TIP OF THE MONTH
Doug's Guitar Technique Tip of the Month will be sent to you monthly. These are the best on the
Internet. No one else's technique articles and videos even come close. Most of the written tips run
over 20 pages. Most of the videos run from 15-30 minutes. The tips are thorough and the
production is excellent. Check out the free tips in Doug's Vault for a sampling.
A one-year subscription (12 tips) is only $24. That is only $2 per tip.
Be a better guitar player or teacher. SUBSCRIBE NOW!
Purchase a ONE-YEAR SUBSCRIPTION to:
DOUGLAS NIEDT'S GUITAR TECHNIQUE TIP OF THE MONTH
Doug's Guitar Technique Tip of the Month will be sent to you monthly. These are the best
on the Internet. No one else's technique articles and videos even come close. Most of the
written tips run over 20 pages. Most of the videos run from 15-30 minutes. The tips are
thorough and the production is excellent. Check out the free tips in Doug's Vault for a
sampling.
A one-year subscription (12 tips) is only $24. That is only $2 per tip.
Purchase a ONE-YEAR SUBSCRIPTION to:
DOUGLAS NIEDT'S GUITAR TECHNIQUE TIP OF THE MONTH
Doug's Guitar Technique Tip of the Month will be sent to you monthly. These are the best
on the Internet. No one else's technique articles and videos even come close. Most of the
written tips run over 20 pages. Most of the videos run from 15-30 minutes. The tips are
thorough and the production is excellent. Check out the free tips in Doug's Vault for a
sampling.
A one-year subscription (12 tips) is only $24. That is only $2 per tip.