This is the second video from her that I've seen, but I've rapidly become a fan and subscriber. I think she might be among the very best I've seen so far (and there have been a *lot* over the past year) for a complete beginner. She's is definitely among my favorites.
I bought my guitar only last week,and by this time i have browsed through many youtube tutorials,but among all of them i have seen, i felt yours is the best..you are really a blessing for we beginners..thankyou so much
This is so helpful! Living in the UK, about 15 years ago I paid for guitar lessons and the tutor introduced the F chord on my third lesson! For me it was the quitter chord! Using RUclips I've learnt to play basic Ukulele without using Barre chords, and now am trying a bit of guitar by following you! THANK you... for putting stuff within my reach...
David I'm so sorry. I hate when teachers do that. I honestly don't know why any teacher would start with something so frustrating. Glad you are giving it a go again.
Yes, F to C in a great Transition. specially if you use a capo to get in the middle of the guitar. Another one I like to practice with student is F#m to Bm.
I was today years old when I discovered i could play C to G to A with my eyes closed! hooray ! My strumming needs major work and I still cannot strum with a pick as I transitioned from a ukulele. I WAS trying to master barre chords thankful to have found this video and will be putting a pin in that for now.
She is a music teacher first, then a guitar teacher. She shows music theory in short, basic, easy to grasp segments that have me not believing I just learned some music theory. She shows how to apply those segments to guitar, and if that is not possible at first, then here is an alternative, maybe not as pure, but something I can likely do. Her quiet comfort on the instrument tells me she is a far more capable artist than she lets on. Subbed.
I wouldn't have believed it when I first picked up the guitar in July 2020, but Lauren is right: you will learn to play barre chords. I still have some buzzing on the 7th fret but the rest sound smooth when I focus. It helped to learn the alternatives first to gain confidence. Baby steps 🙂🙂
Lauren Bateman, your patient & clear teaching style is awesome. I also don't sense any arrogance as I have from some other guitarists on RUclips so thank you
Hi Lauren, my sons and I are new to your channel and love your teaching style. I’m 48 yrs old and just started “playing” the guitar with my 17 and also 15 yr old sons as a father/sons thing. We all LOVE music and LOVE guitar. We’ve been learning by watching instructional videos such as yours but would like to take formal lessons. How do we pick a good teacher and what things should we look for?
I'm a late starter to guitar and found it difficult to get straight up uncomplicated pointers on improving skills. You've sorted that problem, thank you Lauren.
I've never felt any rush to get to barre chords lol, I'll be playing with 20 years of experience still avoiding them as much as possible! I've been able to find replacement chords thus far
@@LaurenBateman I will do. I've watched a few of your videos that have showed me how to play a certain chord an easier way. When I couldn't play a C, I'd play just the top two strings of the chord and miss the last one. Now I can play a C but I'll usually play a Cadd9 because my fingers stay planted on the bottom strings for a lot of songs. I play a lot of Taylor Swift songs, which are a lot of Cadd9, G, Em7 and D or Dsus4 chords so it's just easier but if I'm playing something that goes from a different chord to a C then I used to just play the top two strings if that makes sense. Just a Cadd9 without the third finger and pinkie down
Remember you can also play simple 3 string chords like an F chord, and F# chord and G chord using only the first 3 strings at the 5th fret, 6th, fret and 7th fret of the guitar by using the simple 3 string D chord shape ! where starting at the 5th fret you have a D shape 3 string F chord, starting at 6th fret you have a D shape 3 string F# major chord and starting at the 7th fret you have a D shape 3 string G chord ! :) with these 3 3 string chords (F , F# and G) you only strum the 1st 3 strings ! The sound might be very thin BUT it should work for all you beginner players out there ! :) These 3 string chords are perfect for people like me who have short fingers and small hands and short arms ! hope this helps out other fellow beginner players like me to have fun on the guitar ! :)
.Hi Lauren ,.......when one is a beginner and tries to play songs with barre chords, the hand hurts and at the end it turns out to be a disaster ...thanks so much once again .for that great piece of advice ..you are awesome !!.
Yeah great advice Lauren, I am six months in on guitar playing, I am aware of bar chords but to busy playing without them at present, I guess I will know when I need em, maybe after power chords
Thanks SO much Lauren!!! You have no idea how much this has helped me! Barchords are extremely frustrating sometimes. My boyfriend started teaching me a guitar about 3 years ago and I’m absolutely addicted! However, the bar chords have me at a sort of stand still in my learning process. Your technique has helped me tenfold!!
Thank you Lauren, I tried "Listen to the music" got frustrated. Again referred back to you and realized there's plenty I need to work on and plenty to play and enjoy my guitar. I wish I could do lessons with you. You keep me in check with you calmness and knowledge make learning fun.
I hope you know how much just listening to you makes me get back to work. Something about your calm demeanor and PATIENCE lol that gives me hope about playing. Thank You So Much Lauren
Absolutely amazing, Lauren, you're the the best YT guitar teacher ever. You always manage to make even the most complex things so simple and accessible. I would never have thought about starting the study of bar chords by approaching power chords first. That's genius! Greetings from Italy!!!
I actually did standard/open chords and Barre chords from the very beginning. I just had to keep at it until I could repeat Barre chords and then I could do it without looking. Thank you for the lesson. I'm always looking for great teachers of guitar on here.
Thank you..So much clarity i thought i was getting it wrong by avoiding Barre chords ,but was enjoying myself guess i learn them in due time...but for now Rock On.
Thanks for sharing...I had to change from barr chords to open chords as I developed arthritis in my fingers & cannot hold all strings down with index finger ..I now finger pick Travis style & the 'F' is still a problem..I am 77 yrs old & enjoy playing folk music.. cheers..
After a few years of being self taught, I decided to have some lessons. What was in the first lesson - yeah that's right, the F barre chords. Thanks Lauren.
I wish I found this video couple of months ago when I picked up a guitar for the first time! Thank you so much for explaining! I started this other tutorial like 6 months ago, and they started doing barre chrods on 7th or 8th lesson, which is like 2nd month into the thing. They are really hard for me to play and I thought that I wasn't trying good enough and kept on trying for couple of months, until eventually giving up on it and started searching for something easier. Again, thank you for explaining, I started to think that there was something wrong with me.
just discovered channel recently and my guitar is coming along now 1month in. went from sore fingers to playing 4chords. working on sore wrists and changing problems. Love your channel learning heaps thanks heaps
Hi Lauren. New sub here. You're totally right. I taught myself to play guitar back in 2009 and gave up guitar in 2 years when I started learning barre chords . But 11 years later I restarted learning and I really get what you mean. Someday I'm gonna master barre chords but no rush now. Great videos by the way.
Also because of my age I have bought a kids/small adult size guitar from aNueNue, it’s just a little bigger than my baritone ukuleles, I know a lot of chords that are similar to the guitar chords and was wondering how they would work on the guitar and because of your very helpful RUclips videos I think they will 😊🎵🎶 I can’t seem to master barre chords on a ukulele because I just don’t have the strength in my hands due to arthritis, so pretty sure it’s going to be difficult to play them on a guitar. Thanks again Lauren - you are the best guitar teacher
Awww thanks Pam. I'm glad that the kids size guitar fits you well. It's OK if you can't master Barre chords. There's still a lot you can do on the guitar without them.
I do see where you are coming from with jumping into Barre Chords to early. However, I also want to share with you about my most expensive guitar lesson ever! Besides being a guitar enthusiast I also love riding motorcycles and was out on a nice ride through the hills of Iowa (Dar Williams) with a few friends when we stopped for lunch at this small town and there was a man busking with his guitar on their out door area, we sat eating listening to him and he was amazing. While we were there he took a break and I went to talk with him. I was amazed and astonished when I saw that he was missing the thumb on his left hand (fretting hand) yet he played amazingly, Barre Chords and all. He explained he had cut it off on a table saw while making a guitar. I knew this guy had a lot to teach me so I asked if he gave lessons. Turns out he was only passing through on his way back to California and was just busking to earn gas money so he was leaving that evening, Well, I asked him if he could give me a lesson today and I would pay him. He said yes. Problem was I had no guitar with me, but fortunately there was a guitar store 3 blocks away, so I ran a bought a guitar, hard case and such and ran back for my lesson. What I learned changed my guitar playing forever! What I learned about playing Barre Chords without using my thumb, was first to use my right forearm to pull the body of the guitar into me pushing the neck out towards my fretting fingers, then tucking my left elbow into my side and pulling my whole arm back I had all the pressure I needed to play a barre chord. Of course, all the other proper barre chord techniques still applied! So now when I play Barre Chords, I really only use gently for positioning. Now it does take a bit of time and practice to get it all synchronized, but, Barre chords have been pain free for me ever since! I ended up having to ship the guitar to my house, so the grand total for that hour or so lesson was $j1,268.00! But well worth it and I got a fairly nice guitar out of it! For any new guitar players still reading, everyone struggled with bar chords, we actually struggled through all the open chords at first too, learning to play the guitar is an amazing journey, that never ends. There is always something new to learn and explore on the guitar, so don't rush in the beginning because you want a good foundation and start to your magical musical journey! Even though I have mastered Barre Chords, I have an acoustic heart and soul and just love those open strings.......
Yes that is a great lesson. I often teach students this when they learn open chords. Especially to those who have thumb pain. I say, do you know your thumb doesn't help you play chords. It only holds your hand up. And they are shocked. I tell them let gravity to the work. Great lesson this teacher taught you!
Really good to find an alternative to barr cords, I am starting late in life at 67, just 2 months, learning, having damaged my index and ring finger slightly, do find a barr cord hard, but I am concentrating on other cords to get them right, it's hard but I won't give up! Got 6 songs I play not too bad, and enjoying it thank you grahame
Grahame, I too started late in life at the age of 70 and I developed trigger finger from attempting to do difficult cords early in my journey. I had to have an operation on my finger that corrected the problem and I’m ok now. I agree with you on Lauren’s approach to teaching newbies. My progress over the last 6 years has been slow but After all that time I’ve come to the point that just stick with learning the basic cords that Lauren discusses in her vids and many of the suggestions she makes in her vids are reinforcements on what I’ve had to come up with on my own. I’ve watched hours & hours of RUclips guitar vids and most of them just like to show off on how good they are at jamming on the fretboard. Lauren is far from that, although she is that good she treats us newbies with respect and is sincere with getting along with our development.
Thank you thank you - love the alternatives, I have been playing baritone ukes for a couple years and was wondering if I could use the chords I play on the baritone - very helpful knowledge!!
Thank you. I think I'm intermediate level, but now with you being on you tube,I'm going over basics,I kinda ignored.my main instrument is piano,and I played them both when I was young.i had knowledgeable guitar players insist beginners do barge chords right away.i thought there was something wrong with me,but for some reason I can do b here chords,and before I seen this video I told myself to just have fun with open chords and slash chords.thanks again
Thank you for this video! My ex-boyfriend insisted on starting me out on barre chords, to which I told him that I would lose interest very quickly... and I did. It's like trying to run before you learn to walk. After watching this video, I feel no pressure to learn barre chords right away. What a relief, thank you Lauren!
Lauren Bateman you are really a great guitar teacher... I appreciate your way of easy teaching... I have learnt a lot from your videos... Love from Abbottabad Pakistan...❤
As always ...Thank you for your advice....Only have a year into this journey and Zoom meetings are a bit challenging with my instructor with all of the virus shut downs. Barre chords are challenging ...Especially that F !!!!!
I have this song in one of my videos,that I used the B# To F chord and I switch it in Parallel down to a D to C# to B but their parallel chords formed with 3 fingers,I found this chord watching for new chords and it's a staple in my music,forming parallel dimensional chords,they sound like the chords alone,but put together they don't work,because of one note.🤔 Everything on the fretboard happens by accident...I know krazy but it works for me,and gives me more ideas to pull from..
Hey Lauren I have permanent nerve damage left over from a very bad bout of guillian barre syndrome and I have numb/dead hands and I have had my guitar for what is coming up on three years now and I’m determined that I’m going to teach myself how to play however I have come to the conclusion that these damaged nerves of mine are never going to allow for me to make barre chords and believe me I’ve tried oh goodness how I’ve tried so if you have anymore tips for alternative chords it would so be greatly appreciated and you have no idea how much you have just helped me out with these chords so thank you so very much.
Oh Lisa you are so welcome. I have many students I work with who have severe arthritis and bar chords just aren't possible for them. Glad you found this video and so happy to have helped you. I firmly believe where there's is a will, there's a way.
@@LaurenBateman Lauren just so you know I am a stubborn woman and I will learn and get to be able to play to the best of my ability and it is with the tips such as the ones you gave me that is going to help me reach my goal and thank you for reading and responding It means more to this ole gal than you could ever know as long as I reach my goal before I kick the bucket lol lol I just wish my progress wasn’t so dang slow patience isn’t a strong suit of mine lol lol lol however I’m learning that one as well lol lol thank you so much again it truly means a lot
It’s just I’m trying to learn this song, it doesn’t use bar chords, but I do have to bar some frets. And I practically know most of the song, but this one line I have to bar a chord and it’s the only thing missing 😭
I have problems with bar chords, not all my fingers touch at the same time, some of my fingers are late, what do I have to do so that all my fingers touch the chords at the same time
I would first start with power chords to get comfort. I do have a great power & Barre chord course that's part of my mini course bundle package: www.laurenbatemanguitar.com/stage2
Hi. Let say I do F barre chord, Is it okay if my index finger put pressure only on the strings that my middle finger, ring finger and pinky finger is not pressing? Or it is recommended to put pressure on all 6 strings with my index finger?
Very helpful for a newbie at 66 years old. Picked up the guitar only 3 months ago and "fun playing" is completely what I am aiming for with or without the dreaded Barre chords! I def do not (yet?) have the dexterity for them!
Katie Tunstall can't play barre chords in either can Ed Sheeran. It's so hard to find any information or chord charts or anything with alternatives. It's just article after article of people trying to force you to learn it as if it's the only possible way to play the guitar. I'm so thankful that my dad and other people have been able to help me play whatever chords I want without doing it because I have carpal tunnel and stuff too.
Thank you for this. I have many students who can't play them because of arthritis. It's not an end all be all. There are always ways to make things easier on the guitar.
Yeah, I remember once thinking that "Big Yellow Taxi" sounded like an easy strumming song until I looked up how to play it: All barre chords in an alternate tuning. No thanks. New respect for Joni Mitchell.
If you want a gentle introduction to barre chords try out mini 2 string barre chords involving a mini barre over 2 strings only over same fret (like in F major chord), 3 string partial barre chords involving a partial barre over 3 strings only over same fret and if you are feeling little braver a partial 4 string barre chord involving a partial barre over 4 strings only on the same fret ! therefore playing the guitar more like a 4 string ukulele ! ( because you are not doing the full 6 string barre chords at all on the guitar ! in other words you are not doing the full barre over all 6 strings of the guitar at the same fret ! you are only barring 2 - 4 strings at the same fret with your finger at the very most ! ) Hopefully this advice will also make barre chords much easier for people ! :) (but if this is still too hard don't worry bout it stick to simple open chords etc)
Oh and another thing i wanted to add guys and gals is here is another great way to cheat and do barre chords easily without having to use your fingers ! just use a CAPO device to barre all 6 strings at a certain fret of your guitar then put your fingers onto other strings onto other frets in open positions to finish off creating the chord and you will be doing automatic BARRE CHORDS ! by using a capo to do barre chords you will also be transposing your favourite songs up or down a key ! also making it easier to sing over sometimes too if you are in a band ! :) Capos are great for us beginners who can't do full 6 string barre chords ! :) hope this advice helps folks ! enjoy ! he he ! :)
Barre chords are hard to learn on acoustic with high action. So I think before anyone tries to learn barre chords make sure their acoustic is low action and property set up.
✅ Check out Lauren's beginner guitar system: www.laurenbatemanguitar.com/courseyt
Lauren is my favorite RUclips guitar teacher. I’ve learned more from her tutorials and videos than any other out there.
Hey Sapphire, thank you so much. That makes me so happy that my lessons helped you.
This is the second video from her that I've seen, but I've rapidly become a fan and subscriber. I think she might be among the very best I've seen so far (and there have been a *lot* over the past year) for a complete beginner. She's is definitely among my favorites.
I bought my guitar only last week,and by this time i have browsed through many youtube tutorials,but among all of them i have seen, i felt yours is the best..you are really a blessing for we beginners..thankyou so much
Happy to help!
This is so helpful! Living in the UK, about 15 years ago I paid for guitar lessons and the tutor introduced the F chord on my third lesson! For me it was the quitter chord! Using RUclips I've learnt to play basic Ukulele without using Barre chords, and now am trying a bit of guitar by following you! THANK you... for putting stuff within my reach...
David I'm so sorry. I hate when teachers do that. I honestly don't know why any teacher would start with something so frustrating. Glad you are giving it a go again.
F barre was my nightmare but I have got it. Try to practice F barre with C major chord. Believe me it works after dedicating some time this way.
Yes, F to C in a great Transition. specially if you use a capo to get in the middle of the guitar. Another one I like to practice with student is F#m to Bm.
I was today years old when I discovered i could play C to G to A with my eyes closed! hooray ! My strumming needs major work and I still cannot strum with a pick as I transitioned from a ukulele. I WAS trying to master barre chords thankful to have found this video and will be putting a pin in that for now.
She is a music teacher first, then a guitar teacher. She shows music theory in short, basic, easy to grasp segments that have me not believing I just learned some music theory. She shows how to apply those segments to guitar, and if that is not possible at first, then here is an alternative, maybe not as pure, but something I can likely do. Her quiet comfort on the instrument tells me she is a far more capable artist than she lets on. Subbed.
Thanks for subbing! Really appreciate the kind comments. So happy to help.
I wouldn't have believed it when I first picked up the guitar in July 2020, but Lauren is right: you will learn to play barre chords. I still have some buzzing on the 7th fret but the rest sound smooth when I focus. It helped to learn the alternatives first to gain confidence. Baby steps 🙂🙂
So glad to help!
Lauren Bateman, your patient & clear teaching style is awesome. I also don't sense any arrogance as I have from some other guitarists on RUclips so thank you
No that turns me right off. I'd rather support players at their level and guide them in loving the guitar. I'm not a guitar snob.
@@LaurenBateman You have become my favorite RUclips instructor. I just like your personality, that's what makes me listen to you. Humble
Hi Lauren, my sons and I are new to your channel and love your teaching style. I’m 48 yrs old and just started “playing” the guitar with my 17 and also 15 yr old sons as a father/sons thing. We all LOVE music and LOVE guitar. We’ve been learning by watching instructional videos such as yours but would like to take formal lessons. How do we pick a good teacher and what things should we look for?
I'm a late starter to guitar and found it difficult to get straight up uncomplicated pointers on improving skills. You've sorted that problem, thank you Lauren.
Hey Andy, that's awesome. So happy to help you
I've never felt any rush to get to barre chords lol, I'll be playing with 20 years of experience still avoiding them as much as possible! I've been able to find replacement chords thus far
Good job. Keep it up.
@@LaurenBateman I will do. I've watched a few of your videos that have showed me how to play a certain chord an easier way. When I couldn't play a C, I'd play just the top two strings of the chord and miss the last one. Now I can play a C but I'll usually play a Cadd9 because my fingers stay planted on the bottom strings for a lot of songs. I play a lot of Taylor Swift songs, which are a lot of Cadd9, G, Em7 and D or Dsus4 chords so it's just easier but if I'm playing something that goes from a different chord to a C then I used to just play the top two strings if that makes sense. Just a Cadd9 without the third finger and pinkie down
@@melodyvalentine8779wow
Remember you can also play simple 3 string chords like an F chord, and F# chord and G chord using only the first 3 strings at the 5th fret, 6th, fret and 7th fret of the guitar by using the simple 3 string D chord shape ! where starting at the 5th fret you have a D shape 3 string F chord, starting at 6th fret you have a D shape 3 string F# major chord and starting at the 7th fret you have a D shape 3 string G chord ! :) with these 3 3 string chords (F , F# and G) you only strum the 1st 3 strings ! The sound might be very thin BUT it should work for all you beginner players out there ! :) These 3 string chords are perfect for people like me who have short fingers and small hands and short arms ! hope this helps out other fellow beginner players like me to have fun on the guitar ! :)
Yep so many options with chords on guitar
Thank you - I’m very happy with the alternatives - makes many songs more accessible 👍
Hey Ad Smith, I'm glad I was able to help :)
Thank you, I enjoy your lessons. I've been playing off and on for 22 years and barre chords are still my nemesis.
They can be a pain but you can also do some wonderful things with them as well rhythmically.
.Hi Lauren ,.......when one is a beginner and tries to play songs with barre chords, the hand hurts and at the end it turns out to be a disaster ...thanks so much once again .for that great piece of advice ..you are awesome !!.
Glad I was able to help
Yeah great advice Lauren, I am six months in on guitar playing, I am aware of bar chords but to busy playing without them at present, I guess I will know when I need em, maybe after power chords
There ya go. Power chords definitely come first. :)
Thanks SO much Lauren!!! You have no idea how much this has helped me! Barchords are extremely frustrating sometimes. My boyfriend started teaching me a guitar about 3 years ago and I’m absolutely addicted! However, the bar chords have me at a sort of stand still in my learning process. Your technique has helped me tenfold!!
Happy to help!
Thank you Lauren, I tried "Listen to the music" got frustrated. Again referred back to you and realized there's plenty I need to work on and plenty to play and enjoy my guitar. I wish I could do lessons with you. You keep me in check with you calmness and knowledge make learning fun.
Aww thank you so much! I have other videos that will help you. It is important to relax and take your time.
I hope you know how much just listening to you makes me get back to work. Something about your calm demeanor and PATIENCE lol that gives me hope about playing. Thank You So Much Lauren
Thank you so much!
Absolutely amazing, Lauren, you're the the best YT guitar teacher ever. You always manage to make even the most complex things so simple and accessible. I would never have thought about starting the study of bar chords by approaching power chords first. That's genius! Greetings from Italy!!!
Wow, thank you!
Glad I saw this, I had gave up on doing bar cords. Now I have hope again.
Yes!!! They aren't for beginner players. Keep it simple. Build strength. Go from there.
You're such a kind and awesome teacher. I really appreciate your teachings
Hey Eduardo, thank you so much. That makes me so happy :)
Great message of encouragement here: Lauren is wise grasshopper take heed and bar barre chords.
Thanks Tom, for your message :)
I actually did standard/open chords and Barre chords from the very beginning. I just had to keep at it until I could repeat Barre chords and then I could do it without looking. Thank you for the lesson. I'm always looking for great teachers of guitar on here.
They take time. Very frustrating for most beginners.
Thank you..So much clarity i thought i was getting it wrong by avoiding Barre chords ,but was enjoying myself guess i learn them in due time...but for now Rock On.
Wonderful! Glad it was helpful
@@LaurenBateman 🙏
Evening all,Neil actually said how I feel too,I thought there was an unwritten guitar law enforcing barge chords. Don't give up playing. Don't fretlol
@@shawnabruley7066 the more you keep playing it slowly falls into place and I know for sure my dog approves he falls of to sleep..🐕😂
Thanks for sharing...I had to change from barr chords to open chords as I developed arthritis in my fingers & cannot hold all strings down with index finger ..I now finger pick Travis style & the 'F' is still a problem..I am 77 yrs old & enjoy playing folk music.. cheers..
Robert wow. Glad to help. Yes arthritis means we have to make some adjustments unfortunately. But it's doesn't mean you have to stop playing.
After a few years of being self taught, I decided to have some lessons. What was in the first lesson - yeah that's right, the F barre chords. Thanks Lauren.
No!!! Awww. I'm sorry. Glad to help on RUclips here
@@LaurenBateman thanks Lauren. I love your approach. Subscribed!
I wish I found this video couple of months ago when I picked up a guitar for the first time! Thank you so much for explaining! I started this other tutorial like 6 months ago, and they started doing barre chrods on 7th or 8th lesson, which is like 2nd month into the thing. They are really hard for me to play and I thought that I wasn't trying good enough and kept on trying for couple of months, until eventually giving up on it and started searching for something easier. Again, thank you for explaining, I started to think that there was something wrong with me.
Ouch! Oh no I would never do that too my students. Very frustrating in the beginning.
just discovered channel recently and my guitar is coming along now 1month in. went from sore fingers to playing 4chords. working on sore wrists and changing problems. Love your channel learning heaps thanks heaps
Welcome aboard!
Great lesson...very clear and sensible...such a good teacher!
Thank you Lifetime member 😃🎸🎶
Thankyou for that lesson I just started playing guitar about 2 weeks ago . its helpful in my quest to play.
Hey Dave, thank you so much. That makes me so happy that my lessons helped you.
Hi Lauren. New sub here. You're totally right. I taught myself to play guitar back in 2009 and gave up guitar in 2 years when I started learning barre chords . But 11 years later I restarted learning and I really get what you mean. Someday I'm gonna master barre chords but no rush now. Great videos by the way.
Thanks for the sub!
Also because of my age I have bought a kids/small adult size guitar from aNueNue, it’s just a little bigger than my baritone ukuleles, I know a lot of chords that are similar to the guitar chords and was wondering how they would work on the guitar and because of your very helpful RUclips videos I think they will 😊🎵🎶 I can’t seem to master barre chords on a ukulele because I just don’t have the strength in my hands due to arthritis, so pretty sure it’s going to be difficult to play them on a guitar. Thanks again Lauren - you are the best guitar teacher
Awww thanks Pam. I'm glad that the kids size guitar fits you well. It's OK if you can't master Barre chords. There's still a lot you can do on the guitar without them.
Another great video with a lot of good information! Thanks, Lauren!
Hey Joani, thank you so much. Glad you enjoyed the video :)
Yes ! she is best teacher I ever met in the you tube. I have a lot from her teaching.
Aww thank you so much
I do see where you are coming from with jumping into Barre Chords to early. However, I also want to share with you about my most expensive guitar lesson ever! Besides being a guitar enthusiast I also love riding motorcycles and was out on a nice ride through the hills of Iowa (Dar Williams) with a few friends when we stopped for lunch at this small town and there was a man busking with his guitar on their out door area, we sat eating listening to him and he was amazing. While we were there he took a break and I went to talk with him. I was amazed and astonished when I saw that he was missing the thumb on his left hand (fretting hand) yet he played amazingly, Barre Chords and all. He explained he had cut it off on a table saw while making a guitar. I knew this guy had a lot to teach me so I asked if he gave lessons. Turns out he was only passing through on his way back to California and was just busking to earn gas money so he was leaving that evening, Well, I asked him if he could give me a lesson today and I would pay him. He said yes. Problem was I had no guitar with me, but fortunately there was a guitar store 3 blocks away, so I ran a bought a guitar, hard case and such and ran back for my lesson. What I learned changed my guitar playing forever! What I learned about playing Barre Chords without using my thumb, was first to use my right forearm to pull the body of the guitar into me pushing the neck out towards my fretting fingers, then tucking my left elbow into my side and pulling my whole arm back I had all the pressure I needed to play a barre chord. Of course, all the other proper barre chord techniques still applied! So now when I play Barre Chords, I really only use gently for positioning. Now it does take a bit of time and practice to get it all synchronized, but, Barre chords have been pain free for me ever since! I ended up having to ship the guitar to my house, so the grand total for that hour or so lesson was $j1,268.00! But well worth it and I got a fairly nice guitar out of it! For any new guitar players still reading, everyone struggled with bar chords, we actually struggled through all the open chords at first too, learning to play the guitar is an amazing journey, that never ends. There is always something new to learn and explore on the guitar, so don't rush in the beginning because you want a good foundation and start to your magical musical journey! Even though I have mastered Barre Chords, I have an acoustic heart and soul and just love those open strings.......
Yes that is a great lesson. I often teach students this when they learn open chords. Especially to those who have thumb pain. I say, do you know your thumb doesn't help you play chords. It only holds your hand up. And they are shocked. I tell them let gravity to the work. Great lesson this teacher taught you!
Really good to find an alternative to barr cords, I am starting late in life at 67, just 2 months, learning, having damaged my index and ring finger slightly, do find a barr cord hard, but I am concentrating on other cords to get them right, it's hard but I won't give up! Got 6 songs I play not too bad, and enjoying it thank you grahame
Hey Grahame, that's fantastic. I'm glad that you found this super helpful.
Grahame, I too started late in life at the age of 70 and I developed trigger finger from attempting to do difficult cords early in my journey. I had to have an operation on my finger that corrected the problem and I’m ok now. I agree with you on Lauren’s approach to teaching newbies. My progress over the last 6 years has been slow but After all that time I’ve come to the point that just stick with learning the basic cords that Lauren discusses in her vids and many of the suggestions she makes in her vids are reinforcements on what I’ve had to come up with on my own. I’ve watched hours & hours of RUclips guitar vids and most of them just like to show off on how good they are at jamming on the fretboard. Lauren is far from that, although she is that good she treats us newbies with respect and is sincere with getting along with our development.
Thank you, it makes sense, it could be very frustrating, I will slow down!!
Hey Olga, take your time. You can do this :)
Thank you for your honesty and help! Glad I came across this video 🙏
Glad it was helpful!
So helpful..Thank you so much!!I'm just taking my time learning my strumming and changing my chords...
You're welcome.
Lauren I'm a trad singer and I use your chords with my songs I avoid barr chords at the moment thank you so much
Karl
Glad you’re having fun Karl. That’s the most important part.
wow ,you really know how to motivate people , thanks again Miss Bateman .
You're welcome again!
Thank you thank you - love the alternatives, I have been playing baritone ukes for a couple years and was wondering if I could use the chords I play on the baritone - very helpful knowledge!!
Yes, you're welcome!
Thank you. I think I'm intermediate level, but now with you being on you tube,I'm going over basics,I kinda ignored.my main instrument is piano,and I played them both when I was young.i had knowledgeable guitar players insist beginners do barge chords right away.i thought there was something wrong with me,but for some reason I can do b here chords,and before I seen this video I told myself to just have fun with open chords and slash chords.thanks again
Shawna, glad to hear that you are catching up on the basics. And you've got it right. Have fun!
Helpful! Love the Bm simplified! Grazie
Bo, Glad you enjoyed the video and found it helpful. :)
You're so sweet for explaining this. Thank you so much.
Glad it was helpful! Thanks for watching!
Thank You Lauren! Really appreciate your help🎸
Anytime
Thank you for this video! My ex-boyfriend insisted on starting me out on barre chords, to which I told him that I would lose interest very quickly... and I did. It's like trying to run before you learn to walk. After watching this video, I feel no pressure to learn barre chords right away. What a relief, thank you Lauren!
That's exactly. You need to crawl before you walk and walk before you run. One step at a time.
I am learning so much from your lesson. Thank you. Your explanation is superb.
Glad you enjoyed it Barb
Super helpful. Exactly what I was looking for - for exactly this reason!
Thank you so much for sharing this video because I’m learning so much from you
Hey Patty, thank you so much. That makes me so happy that my lessons are helping you.
Great Lesson Lauren!!!! Yessss, Very Helpful!!!🙏🥰
☺️
Than you for this free video lesson ❤️😊
Lauren Bateman you are really a great guitar teacher... I appreciate your way of easy teaching... I have learnt a lot from your videos... Love from Abbottabad Pakistan...❤
You're very welcome!
Really enjoyed this lesson. Thanks as always! 🤘🎸
You're welcome as always 😃
As always ...Thank you for your advice....Only have a year into this journey and Zoom meetings are a bit challenging with my instructor with all of the virus shut downs. Barre chords are challenging ...Especially that F !!!!!
Hey Joe, I'm glad that you found this super helpful. Keep it up!
My left thumb thanks you for the alternatives Teach...🍎
Saving this Video....
Hey Zayne, thank you so much. I'm glad I was able to help :)
I have this song in one of my videos,that I used the B# To F chord and I switch it in Parallel down to a D to C# to B but their parallel chords formed with 3 fingers,I found this chord watching for new chords and it's a staple in my music,forming parallel dimensional chords,they sound like the chords alone,but put together they don't work,because of one note.🤔 Everything on the fretboard happens by accident...I know krazy but it works for me,and gives me more ideas to pull from..
I always tell students, whatever works for you and makes life easier.
🥰
Thank you Lauren, for another excellent and reassuring lesson. I appreciate you!
You're so welcome! Glad you liked it :D
Hey Lauren I have permanent nerve damage left over from a very bad bout of guillian barre syndrome and I have numb/dead hands and I have had my guitar for what is coming up on three years now and I’m determined that I’m going to teach myself how to play however I have come to the conclusion that these damaged nerves of mine are never going to allow for me to make barre chords and believe me I’ve tried oh goodness how I’ve tried so if you have anymore tips for alternative chords it would so be greatly appreciated and you have no idea how much you have just helped me out with these chords so thank you so very much.
Oh Lisa you are so welcome. I have many students I work with who have severe arthritis and bar chords just aren't possible for them. Glad you found this video and so happy to have helped you. I firmly believe where there's is a will, there's a way.
@@LaurenBateman Lauren just so you know I am a stubborn woman and I will learn and get to be able to play to the best of my ability and it is with the tips such as the ones you gave me that is going to help me reach my goal and thank you for reading and responding It means more to this ole gal than you could ever know as long as I reach my goal before I kick the bucket lol lol I just wish my progress wasn’t so dang slow patience isn’t a strong suit of mine lol lol lol however I’m learning that one as well lol lol thank you so much again it truly means a lot
Thank you so much. You make me love playing guitar
Hey Mark, thank you so much. That makes me so happy that my lessons helped you love guitar again.
Thanks Lauren, so good of you to reply, yes this is helpful .Good videos.
Glad it was helpful!
Thanks for this video,Lauren.It's really helpful n enjoy it.
Glad it was helpful!
Fmaj7 is beautiful i didn't realize you could play that for F I LOVE THIS VIDEO
Hmmm, okay. Im going to put them on the back burner for now. This makes good sense.
Hi lauren, thank you I have been on some tutors but they are not like you who show
other guitarist where your fingers should go rock on from lena
Glad to help Lena!
Really helpful advice on barre chords..
Nanette, glad you enjoyed it.
Absolutely Awesome👌👏🔝💯💗.
Thank you so much, Lauren🙏.
Your Wonderful😇.
I mean Your Absolutely Wonderful, Darling!! 😍
Wow, thank you!
@LaurenBateman No, Thank You Petal🌹.
❤️❤️❤️👍👍👍excellent teacher! thanks !
You are welcome!
Thanks I really don't know any bar chords , But this is a great video thanks
Glad it was helpful!
Thank you very much Lauren 👍
You’re welcome 😊
It’s just I’m trying to learn this song, it doesn’t use bar chords, but I do have to bar some frets. And I practically know most of the song, but this one line I have to bar a chord and it’s the only thing missing 😭
Practice
I have problems with bar chords, not all my fingers touch at the same time, some of my fingers are late, what do I have to do so that all my fingers touch the chords at the same time
I would first start with power chords to get comfort. I do have a great power & Barre chord course that's part of my mini course bundle package:
www.laurenbatemanguitar.com/stage2
I’ve always been confused with a Gbm (g flat major) I don’t know if there are any easier alternatives? P.s your videos have been helping me so much❤
Yes, basically, the simple answer is to look at the Barre chord and play only the bottom 3 or 4 strings.
Great & Cool Lauren.
Greetings from The Netherlands
Hello again!
Hi. Let say I do F barre chord, Is it okay if my index finger put pressure only on the strings that my middle finger, ring finger and pinky finger is not pressing? Or it is recommended to put pressure on all 6 strings with my index finger?
You do not need to put pressure on all the strings 😎
I needed to hear this. Thank you.
You are so welcome
thank you for simplifying this!!!
Glad it was helpful!
I’ve been playing for about 6 months and honestly bar chords make a lot of the music theory and playing in different keys easier when starting out.
Just curious if you ever use the F6ad9 in place of the F
I have not.
Great job ! Thank you. God bless.
You're very welcome! and God bless you too :)
Great advice!
Glad it was helpful!
Fantastic video, looks like your fingers are long, mine look short, I will need a skinner neck of my guitar. Thx
Thanks for watching!
"The point of playing guitar is to have fun." Exactly. That's why I started to learn guitar at 49...
Amen. Have fun with it!
Very helpful for a newbie at 66 years old. Picked up the guitar only 3 months ago and "fun playing" is completely what I am aiming for with or without the dreaded Barre chords! I def do not (yet?) have the dexterity for them!
Im having problems learning chords. How can you help
Have you tried my Crash Course
www.laurenbatemanguitar.com/crashcourse
wanting to give up guitar because of barre chords too early led me here. thanks for helping!
Thanks for watching! Keep playing!
Katie Tunstall can't play barre chords in either can Ed Sheeran. It's so hard to find any information or chord charts or anything with alternatives. It's just article after article of people trying to force you to learn it as if it's the only possible way to play the guitar. I'm so thankful that my dad and other people have been able to help me play whatever chords I want without doing it because I have carpal tunnel and stuff too.
Thank you for this. I have many students who can't play them because of arthritis. It's not an end all be all. There are always ways to make things easier on the guitar.
Great teacher! Very lovely young lady as well.
Aww Jack that's so sweet of you. Thank you :)
I understand but learning the barre chords early is not a bad thing, is it?
It can be if it frustrates you and makes you give up. Some people need to have fun before they can battle a challenge like Barre chords.
@@LaurenBateman
😄😄 that's a good point about battling Lauren 👍👍
I'm amazed at that guitar that you can be so far back from the fret and it still sounds clean. I think I need a different guitar.
Thank you 😊
You are welcome :)
Yeah, I remember once thinking that "Big Yellow Taxi" sounded like an easy strumming song until I looked up how to play it: All barre chords in an alternate tuning. No thanks. New respect for Joni Mitchell.
If you want a gentle introduction to barre chords try out mini 2 string barre chords involving a mini barre over 2 strings only over same fret (like in F major chord), 3 string partial barre chords involving a partial barre over 3 strings only over same fret and if you are feeling little braver a partial 4 string barre chord involving a partial barre over 4 strings only on the same fret ! therefore playing the guitar more like a 4 string ukulele ! ( because you are not doing the full 6 string barre chords at all on the guitar ! in other words you are not doing the full barre over all 6 strings of the guitar at the same fret ! you are only barring 2 - 4 strings at the same fret with your finger at the very most ! ) Hopefully this advice will also make barre chords much easier for people ! :) (but if this is still too hard don't worry bout it stick to simple open chords etc)
Yep, I discuss this in the video.
Oh and another thing i wanted to add guys and gals is here is another great way to cheat and do barre chords easily without having to use your fingers ! just use a CAPO device to barre all 6 strings at a certain fret of your guitar then put your fingers onto other strings onto other frets in open positions to finish off creating the chord and you will be doing automatic BARRE CHORDS ! by using a capo to do barre chords you will also be transposing your favourite songs up or down a key ! also making it easier to sing over sometimes too if you are in a band ! :) Capos are great for us beginners who can't do full 6 string barre chords ! :) hope this advice helps folks ! enjoy ! he he ! :)
Can’t do a B or F! Only three months in though.
Yeah those are tough. Not for beginners.
Ok now I have an idea about when we can start barre chords. I'm gonna stick to open chords and focus more one my right hand, strumming etc...
Thanks for watching!
you are my Guru ...
Thank you !
Barre chords are hard to learn on acoustic with high action. So I think before anyone tries to learn barre chords make sure their acoustic is low action and property set up.
Thanks for sharing!
Thank you ...been lookin for a "F" for "the man who sold the world "...Bowie not Nirvana
Hey Joyce, thank you so much. Glad I was able to help :)
Great video..
Thanks for the visit
What is the best thing to do to keep from dragging renters on strings ?
Not sure what you mean by renters
How long did it take y’all to learn the basic chords?😅😭
Months.
It really does take months to do it properly. If we were told that up front we wouldn't get so discouraged.