ok. i posted before...but that was regarding the index finger cause i couldnt bar proerly...now i have strength to bar any frets with just the index finger...but the thing is....when i play F chord...is alright...but my index finger is straight...when i play the chord 113311 with my index finger straight again...the 1st string is not ringing clearly...i heard u have to use the side of the finger...so how?

It's not that you have to use the sides of your finger to press barre chords. It is only recommended if you can't do it properly.
Sometimes it's the gaps between your finger and the strings that makes the buzzing noise. Try repositioning yr finger vertically up and down so that the gap is not directly on the strings.
If you know what I mean =.=

hm...i dont understand. haha

Youtube has a lot of guitar tutorial videos, including barre chord instructions. You can try those.

You just have to make sure that your index finger really press down on all strings. Try also do a small pulling-force as well with your hand so that the index finger is pulled onto the strings. Sometimes, the finger strength alone may not be enough to cover all strings.

Try this..

http://ultimate-guitar.com/lessons/chords/barre_chords.html

they mention using the side...i still cant get it right..i went to youtube...one guy said if u use the flat part of the index..not the side...u gotta use force..mainly for the centre of the index...not the tip of the index nor the joint part of your index...which is hard...the side i can nv do it...i press using my index..and i used my middle finger to push down to...the strings cant ring clearly cause my fingeri s boney...the flkat part is the best but my finger cant spread nicely...

Find the most comfortable position for yourself. Being boney will not make you uncapable of doing barre chords. Take it from me. I'm a very skinny person myself(5' 8"-5'9" weighing only 120 lbs-125 lbs). Just work with your fingers and don't be lazy. Make sure you strike each string to see if it rings correctly and readjust, even if it's just that one single doesn't ring properly. When you get it to the point where each string rings, you are ready to try to change from the previous chord to that barre chord. Don't continue if you mess up. Fix your mistake because if you don't, it'll get worse. Practice the transition very, very slowly for maybe some couple of weeks. I wasn't able to make all the strings ring for the barre chord Bm7 and I got lazy so I didn't look into fixing my mistake. But after some time, I decided I wanted to fix my mistake and now I'm able to get all the strings to ring on one go. I'm not trying to be arrogant but I'm just telling you always work on accuracy and precision. Don't just go for one and miss out on the other. I'm a newbie at playing the guitar but this time I'm pretty confident on what I posted above. Have fun!

try this!

okay...so bar at any fret (prolly the first fret) and just press your index finger flat (means the side you see when you look into your palm) on the frets...with me so far?

an then...(unless you're using those left handed guitars) roll your index finger to your LEFT while continuing to press down on the frets

you can kind of play with how much you want to roll your finger over...i do it with about a 45 degree roll

hope this helps

i have problems with bar chords which consists of the index finger and the third and pinky...meaning 113311
or 133111...when i have my 2 fingers on the 33.....the index finger cannot bar beside the fret nicely...the 3rd string or 1st sring cannot ring clearly..if i bar beside the fret...which means i have to move my wrist further to my left (im right handed), the 2 fingers playing on the 33 cannot press the frets problem because it is far from the 3rd fret...not beside at all..beside the 2nd fret though its on the 3rd fret...

Is it because your fingers are too short? How old are you by the way?

Because there are like 3/4 size (I think there's 1/2 size as well) guitars made for kids and young beginners with their small hands and short fingers.

Or perhaps, you're just not used to stretching your ring and pinky fingers. You know what, there is an exercise for that ... it's call Wuu ... Wang (hahahaha).

lol, thers alot thats been said already, so i wont say much more.

but basically, just press hard. lol. thats all there is to it. if u manage to press hard enough on all the strings there wont b buzzing noises... using the side of ur finger or not thats not an issue. its just practice. ur index finger is still probably not strong enough, since its ur first string thats buzzing. just keep practicing and itll come for sure, don't worry. =)

Yeap actually there's nothing to worry about, really. Just practice and practice. You're just not used to it yet. Every guitarist goes through this stage so it's normal :P

I wish there was more inspiration like that around. The concept of "every goes through this stage so it's normal". I sometimes would just love it if someone was able to tell me that when I start feeling frustrated(not just music wise). tsunvun86, good man!(Not intended in any homosexual way.)

ok thanks guy....hope..my finger aint short or anything...haha...i know its not short because i can ring play any chords...but i have to position my fingers slowly...if i do it fast...cannot...so its the speed..nothing to do with my hands..

yea there shouldn't be anything to do with your hands. people with small hands can play guitar too... lol. my hands aren't big and my fingers are skinny, actually the skinnier ur fingers the better, so you can press the right place on the fret accurately, and not have to touch other strings that you don't want to. Best for playing solos and stuff hahaha.

Just practice and you'll get it. in the beginning of course it'll take u alot of time to play a barchord, just like any chord when you first start. like tsunvun86 said, this is a stage every guitarist has to go through. later on when you look back, you realize u've improved!! loll, nothing worry about. practice practice practice makes perfect! good luck!

I have a weird question. I didn't feel like making a thread for this one question so I'll just post this into shinkaii's thread. I'm wondering if this finger excercise tool:http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Gri...Tool?sku=429070 has been used by anyone. Has anyone used any tools to help them strengthen finger strength? Are these even useful or are they something just to get people to waste their money?

lol those will work, ur fingers will be stronger, but its really unnecessary. Seriously, just practicing finger exercises on the guitar is good enough.

exercises like this:

e-1-2-3-4---------------------------------------
B-----------1-2-3-4-----------------------------
G---------------------1-2-3-4-------------------



et, just go up the strings. this is called a chromatic scale. using all four fingers, 1 will b index, the middle, then ring finger, and pinky for 4.

u can do it up the frets too:

e-5-6-7-8--------------------
B----------5-6-7-8-----------
etc

itll seriuosly improve ur finger strneght. do this like five minutes everyday and ur good to go. as u go on and on, u can do it faster and faster, and by the end of it, u can do super fast solos like a piece of cake.

ill post p a pic of correct hand position after, cuz its important how to place ur hand, or else bad habits will develop and will hinder ur guitar training/growth. if u develop bad habits like where u move ur hand in order to play with ur pinky, cuz ur pinky isnt strong enough yet, ull find it hard to play some songs/solos. ur pinky in correct position, should b stretched the most when u need to play that fret 4 or whichever fret is farthest on the right.

edit (pics): sry its a bit hard to take pics while holding the guitar lol


that's correct hand position, notice how the hand is slanted, pinky stretched
notice how far the palm of the hand is off of the guitar, dont like touch ur guitar thats bad habit too


BAD hand position, this is a bad habit among people who start out, the pinky doesnt have enough strength therefore, to compensate u slant ur hand towards ur pinky. DONT do this



Lower strings, keep ur fingers bent at all times



BAD position, slanted te wrong way

lol, hope that helps, u might already know all this, but itll help any one who is learnin guitar

YEP. do the exercise, ull notice outstanding results.

OH and practice Barchords itll help finger strength too, but the exercise will actually help ur bar chords haha

Oh thanks man. I think I've been slanting the wrong way . . . Thank you for pointing that out. I don't want to develop a bad habit. Heh.

after you do the chromatic scale for a while and can play at a relatively fast tempo do something like this.

d--------------------------------------------------------1-----------
a------------1---------1-2--------1-2-3-----1-2-3-4-----2-3-4---
e-1-2-3-4-----2-3-4-------3-4----------4-------------------------

and then backdown like the chromatic scale but..

e--5-4-3-2-----4-3-2--------3-2----------2------------------
b-------------5----------5-4--------5-4-3------5-4-3-2------
g---------------------------------------------------------------


imo, the first type that yukio showed is good for strengthening your fingers where as this one widens your finger gaps. good for barre chords? not really, but it helps when you play chords with extentions like the hendrix chord or 13s.

My pinky seems to be weird. All my other fingers slant in the position yukio suggested it to be. My pinky doesn't . . . Are you sure everyone's pinky can slant that way? The joint on my pinky is weird. This is making me feel like a failure. :'(

If you look at yukio's pics, you can see his pinky isn't as "slanted" as the other fingers. That's natural, and it is especially true when your finger reaches for the lower strings. However, even if the pinky finger tip isn't slanted, the pinky-knuckle should be slightly above your pinky finger tip as your finger kind of curls a little.

often if u find ur pinky not doing the things its supposed to be doing, its probably because of strength. your pinky is way weaker than any other finger in ur hand, tahts why u gotta force it to do the exercise and train it up.

I can't seem to do this one. My palm always ends up touching the fretboard and neck of the guitar. My fingers need to touch the string underneath it inorder to curl up like that.

Better yet let me take pictures of how my first hand positions look like.

Position 1: On e string:


Position 2: On A string:


My fingers look so distorted when bent. LOL especially my index on the A string. I'm pretty sure I'm doing this all wrong so please walk me through. xD

Sorry for the nasty web cam pictures. The light in my room emits a bright yellow light.

ok, look at ur index on position 2. then look at mine. ur index is more bent that mine, and thats what makes teh diference. when u bend ur index that much, ur palm automatically has less room and is probably going to touch ur guitar neck. ur DEFINITELY slanting in the right direction, but the thing is when u want to reach the lower strings ur hand tends to level out. look at my pic, look atthe knuckles its kinda more parallel to the neck instead of slanted. so dont slant so much on the lower strings when u need to stretch. i think thats basically what it is the makes the difference

for position one, not sure if its just he lighting. if it is, ignore this haha. try to bring out ur knuckles/palm more.ur knuckles are way behind the neck of the guitar, like move it forward more line it up approx. underneath the neck of hte guitar, it helps with comfort and strength.

keep practicing!

@yukio: Thanks! Are my pinkies doing the correct thing. My pinky is very strange when it bends. Lol.

lol the pinky's always like that, look at mine haha.. as long as its bent in someway, ur pressing hard enough with the pinky and the right sound comes through its fine

I'll also add an extra note. When you reach for the lower strings, like your position 2 picture, make sure your thumb is in the middle of the neck, not wrapped around the neck. It's kind of like doing a barre chord, but instead of the index fingers flat on the fretboard, the fingers are curled.

My thumb is always wrapped around the fretboard :P
Is that bad? I've been doing it for years XD

The thumb right behing the fret is an awkward position for me. My whole arm would be curled up. I don't get as much grip if I do that during solos. It throws my left hand off balance..... I only do that while barring.

Well he wants to develop finger strength proper fingering technique, so I think (to me at least, because of my violin/viola background) it's better to start off by having the thumb behind in the middle of the neck. But this is more for playing the lower strings since it's difficult to reach them with the thumb wrapped.

Once he gets the fingering down with the proper slant and curl, then he can do whatever feels comfortable.

Those solos are usually played on the higher strings so you don't need to reach too far, thus you can still wrap your thumb around.

tsuvun, you're good enough to do whatever you want anyway. =P

yepp the thumb in the middle of the neck is proper hand positioning. but most self-taught guitarist dont follow this much haha, except when u really need to stretch like for lower strings/bar chords haha. but if u really wanna improve ur finger strength then keep ur thumb in the middle, its ALOT harder to play like that, but itll help u in the long term

Thank You Very MuchFor The Lesson,I've really into barre Chord now :clap :clap :clap

woo i didnt know all this proper hand postitioning stuff :sry i'm self-taught so i like to wrap my thumb round the neck too eheheheh... shall try to change my bad habit!