Guitar bar chords

The ability to play bar chords is one of the most important skill a guitar player can learn. Bar chords give you the ability to play almost every open chord by just sliding your hand up and down the guitar with just some minor finger placement changes here and there. The name bar chords probably come from the fact that you bar all the strings on just one fret. Let´s try it out.

First just place your index finger over all the strings on the third fret. Like on the picture below.

Now try plucking just one string at a time and see how it sounds. If this is your first time it probably won’t sounds all the good at first, just like every other skill you learn you have to practice to get good at it. This is probably going to put some strain on your index finger but you´ll get used to it :). Let´s take a look at the picture below and look at the bar chord version of G.

You can see the open chord version of G on the picture to the left. As strange as it may seem, the sounds from these two variations if the chord G will sound identical to one another. Now if you move the chord up two frets you will have the bar chords version of A. Play around with this for awhile, try moving the bar chord up and down the guitar. When you’re ready, take a look at the picture below.

This is the bar chord version of D. One the picture to the right you see the open chords version of D. now don’t get frustrated if it doesn't sounds perfect right away, this will take some time to master. Your index finger will probably be sore after practicing but you index finger will get stronger with time. With these two bar chords variations, you can play tons of songs or even write your own. Just remember to stay motivated and keep practicing.