Advanced Lesson

Movable Barre Chords

Unlike open chords that cannot be moved around easily, Barre chords can because they have no open strings involved. Some people do struggle with Barre chords because you need to use your index finger as a bar, fretting all six strings. That's allots of pressure for one finger. But with a little time and practice you will have no problem.

Barre chords work off of 8 of the open chords that you are familiar with. E major, E minor, E 7, E minor 7, A major, A minor, A 7 and A minor 7. With these 8 chords you already know you can multiply your chord vocabulary almost 100 times just by using Barre chords.

HOW?

By repositioning the open chords you know you can use your index finger and place it behind the open chord, acting as a movable nut. Then you are able to move the chord all over the fret board.

And simple as this, there are 2 positions 6th position and 5th position Barre chords. 6th position gets its name from the note that your index finger is on the sixth string. And same for 5th, it gets its name from the fifth string. Where ever your index finger is that's the root note and the name of the chord. So by memorizing the 5th and 6th string you can play any chord anywhere on the fret board.

So lets take a look at some hand positioning that you'll be using for the Barre chords

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