4:45 "no listener is ever gonna care" ...... words that too many guitar players refuse to hear ....... I see players fussing over things that, in reality, no listener is ever gonna care about. Well said and applicable to much more than "A shape barre chords'.
Both yes and no. The average listener can't pick those subtle differences apart, but sometimes, the subtle details can make all the difference. Sometimes, you need fill those frequencies in. The less people you're playing together with, the more you need to.
A friend of mine is a brilliant player who has gigged for at least thirty years. When I started playing I watched him a lot and it took me ages to figure out what chords he was playing, because once he left the "cowboy's" none of them looked like the chords I was learning. Of course they are, but he REALLY knows what he is doing and how to make things easy for himself. It's like painting, mix too many colors and you end up with a muddy brown mess!
Hey! He used my comment! 🙂 Glad to hear I'm not the only one who has issues with that A-shape bar-chord. Drives me crazy when I block the high E string -- but I guess I really should just let it go and not worry about it. Thanks!
I've been playing for 25+ years, and I never played the 1st string on a barred A chord until recently. All the songs I learned growing up in the 90s never had the high E ring out. Also, congrats on the signature guitar. That's an amazing accomplishment for any player!
Moving on to learning triad inversions (major, minor, and even diminished) up and down the D-G-B strings and then the G-B-E strings and learning those different shapes really opened up my playing options. I had a teacher give me an exercise playing 12-bar blues, two strums per inversion and then moving up or down to the next triad, and it forced me to learn all the shapes and all the inversions and move between then quickly.
When I first discovered that the recommended chord shapes were actually just "suggestions" as to how to make the desired sounds, I was like, "Huh...?" It was your description of alternative chord voicings, some with just a few notes, that provided the auditory suggestion of the whole chord, accomplishing the goal of sounding right, while being simple to execute; game changer for someone who only had a few lessons as a kid and felt attached to "doing it right." Thanks, Sean!
Might be controversial but why not use the three fingers not holding down the root to play those three notes? That's what I've always done and never had any problems. Plus, it makes switching to the A7 , sus4, sus2, maj7, minor etc. easier. I do have small fingers though so I guess that makes it easier getting them all to sit inline
This, i dont know why people try making their lives harder by trying to using one part of their finger to cover three strings. Pointless and creates unnecessary tension while playing.
I have larger hands so I can't really do this but I'm able to get the d and g string with my ring finger and the b with my pinky. Still most songs don't require the e to ring out.
@oswinhull4203 yeah, that makes sense. Personally, I really identified with that Elliott Smith interview where he says he likes chord progressions that have some implied melody in them. I tend to deliberately write chord progreesions where the highest note is the note of the melody - in those cases, having the high e ring out feels more important
Using all three fingers past the root A cowboy chord is actually much harder as you move down the neck. It’s actually a pretty insane stretch landing all three fingers while holding a barre on an acoustic.
I never cared about getting the high E to sound. I just did it Ramones style. Then I moved on to just using triads instead of chords for a lot of stuff.
There's another reason for these chord alternatives ... especially for me ... I have the absolutely straightest ring finger ever. Absolutely impossible to bend that knuckle AT ALL. Not too many instructors/ video people consider and/or address this point. Thanks!
Sean...excellent video -- thank you. I've been playing guitar for 30 years and the bent-back-ring finger is impossible for me. It looks cool, but I simply cannot do it anatomically. I have the opposite of hitchhiker thumbs; my fingers are rigid and do not bend back words at the knuckle. If I try, I end up lifting up my finger off both the high E and B strings. Not good. So I play the base note 5th sting and then barre the 4th-2nd stings and mute the high E. Works for me. Plus, I think chords sound better with less stings. Like Andy Sommers or Johnny Marr. Most chords are 3 to 4 notes anyhow. Again -- thanks for giving me a pass!
What really made the difference with barre chords for me was discovering that they are really two chords in one. It was that damned F chord that did it, and trying to learn 'Yesterday' from sheet music that was in the original piano key. It had chord diagrams on it, and they showed the F as xx3211, and the C as xx5553 rooted on the G string (Easy, fully moveable 4 string chords!). But what about that F root on the E, and the 5th on the A? Turns out that is ye olde Power Chord (f5)! It's a twofer! Once you learn the two halves, it somehow gets easier to play them together. It also turns out that, as Sean said, you rarely need the whole thing, usually you are going to accent either the top or bottom few strings more anyway.
Maybe I’m one of those whose finger joints naturally bend back, but I’ve always found it easy to play with my ring finger across the 3 strings for a full chord. Most people who see me do that comment that they could never do it. Sean is right, it doesn’t matter that much, but having multiple ways to play the same thing is handy. Also quick changes 1 to 4 and back are good playing that way. Knowing your way around with triads is probably more important/useful than full bar chords in the end.
This video is so validating, because I've felt like this for awhile, but everyone seems to think these hard shapes matter so much. If you're recording it thats one thing, but for any live performance it doesn't matter
Where were you 30 years ago when I thought this was necessary, still I suppose the clamping force I had to achieve will come in handy if I'm attacked by a boa constrictor . Great video
A variation of the first-finger barre approach if you still want that route in there is to play it on the low E -string (instead of the A) with you pinky, i.e., three frets up from the barre.
Thanks for validating all of us that struggled with this. You should do lesson on selective strumming and muting techniques bc that's major impediment to playing "easier" versions. I suspect many find it even harder to not fret high e, which can totally wreck certain chords
That was the answer I was hoping to hear. I've been playing guitar since the early 80's, and I just gave up sweating that E string on the A major bar chord shape. It comes out often enough, but I don't care when it doesn't. Over the years I've developed various "shortcuts" if it's a piece where that note *must* come out.
As with everything guitar related, it depends. If you are playing in a band and somebody else is covering root position chords? Have a good bassist rocking out down there? That's a fantastic opportunity to use the simpler chord shapes. That said, if you want to really improve as a guitarist, you should at least have the whole A barre chords in your arsenal. If you are just accompanying yourself and you aren't playing the low root, your sound will tend to be thinner than you really want it to be. Now, on a music theory level, if you don't play the low root, you are actually playing a different inversion of the chord, which can impact the way your accompaniment is perceived. The lowest note - the note that is in the bass - that is what determines what chord/inversion you are actually playing on a theoretical/listener's musical perception level. (Something something tension, resolution, this is a youtube comment, not a theory lesson...I'm trying not to get too far into the weeds here for sake of brevity!) Regarding the high E, absolutely spot on. Nobody cares. Four notes are plenty. The guitar generally has enough overtones in it that even if it's not actually there, some people will hear it as being there anyway (because fun acoustic sciencey stuff that I also don't want to get into the weeds here!) Anyway, TLDR - to quote my first sentence: "It depends!"
Love your sense of humor Sean! You are right about leaving out that high e. I did the same thing intentionally yesterday while playing at church. NOBODY knew. I asked several people. I think the main thing is try and get those 3 notes the chords are built from.
Started playing guitar at 16, am 60 now. I will never forget learning that A shape bar chord and how freaking painful it was. My guitar teacher insisted on the high E ringing out. F That! I quit lessons after only 3 weeks. Have never bothered with the high E. As you said, who gives A. My love for guitar has never changed, I still learn new things today. Just learned another way to do it right now. God bless brother. My advice is the same. Play what you love and stay away from torturer guitar teachers. They destroy more students by using the same rules for everyone. We are all different, our hands are all different. You can’t teach everyone the same. We need to find our own way, and our own way of playing. Don’t kill your self or destroy your hands, we only have two of them. ❤
It's crazy how you can make an easy thing harder ;) I use 3 + 1 finger for that shape! It's completely effortless. I wouldn't even be able to do that 1 + 1 shape no matter how hard I would try. It looks like really, really, impossibly, ridiculously hard. I never tried it not because I knew better, but because well, my fingers are way too clumsy to even try such shapes ;)
I stopped worrying about the high e string for that shape a long time ago. Nobody cares and you don’t need it. I stopped caring about it for the root A chord also. It’s so much more fun to just leave the high e out. And sometimes I leave the bass note depending on what I’m playing. To just get the feel of the note with just the triad of the bar.
You had another video that touched on that topic that was the lightbulb moment for me. I used to think the E string had to ring and it drove me crazy, cuz my knuckles just don't bend that much to create the sharp angle that lifts the finger off the high E string. Then you casually mentioned that it's ok if it's muted and I felt like "ohhh, all this time I thought it was a must". Back then I had zero grasp of theory and triads, it didn't even cross my mind that note already existed on the 4th string regardless. I could always play the full barre chord with all strings ringing using my other three free fingers, but just thought the ring finger/pinky barre looked fancier and like the "pro" way. Now I just use whichever way I feel in the moment and don't care if it comes out ringing or muted.
Been playing for 45 + years, and I never did worried about the high string; mostly I didn't because my knuckles just don't flex like that, I'd damage a joint! Though I knew a guy could really bend that finger .. but it's mostly a genetic thing. If for some odd reason I feel like I really need that top string in there, then I'll squeeze my middle, ring and pinky tips all inside that one fret instead of barring it. Of course that only works so far up the neck as the fret space gets tighter (The 7th fret is as far as I can take it), so if you really need, or want, to get that high 5th tone to sound in a chord for some reason, I'd say, just play a different voicing or chord pattern; it's not worth the pain!
The best teaching is often so simple. Thank you! Why have I been worrying about jamming my fingers into this A barre shape for 20 years? Especially when I could have added so many more options for alternative voicings, hammer-ons etc.🤦♀️
Something you didn't mention is to depress both the d and g string with the ring finger and use the pinky for the b which is what I do if I really need every note available. But yeah a lot of the time I make a choice to either let the high e or b string ring out but I can get them all if the song requires it. Honestly I think guitar players usually work around that. For example b minor is super common in guitar songs but you rarely see b major. I have to think part of this is because b major is more difficult to play cleanly. You can also just play the b major chord up higher on the neck where the bass is on the low e. Also you can use a capo.
I agree with the high e, but the a inversion sounds different so i usually try to get the root right. But what i want to add is you can hammer-on the the a bar (second finger) like in sultans of swing to go from the IV to the V chord
I agree with you. I gave up trying to get that high E string to sound out on A-shaped bar chords - that top joint on the ring finger just wouldn't bend clear without snapping. There's already a fifth in the mix anyway.
It's just the difference in anatomy as well, my ring finger physically won't bend upwards for high E to ring. Also my pinky is bent weirdly innward I can't utilise it properly. But that only means I would sound like "me".
Our deficiency's and proficiency's make up our perceived style...I can hear what a guitarist prioritizes in their practice when I hear them gig. Vibrato...clean chord changes...modal phrasing etc.
I always play the bass note, and I always mute the high E string. On purpose. As soon as I found out that Jazz players play all kinds of "inside 4 string chords" then it just made sense. I never really considered leaving out the bass note, because the 1st finger is what I use as a "Home Base."
You had me at ignoring the high E string on the A-form Barre. You lost me at ignoring the low root on the A string. If you're playing with a bassist--you're right. Triads are smarter and more flexible. But, most cats hitting that A-form Barre are solo singersong riders (sic) who need that low sound to get the chord to stand up to other chords with a full bass sound. Pull back on the guitar neck as you do the A-form double-stop (to lessen the grip force needed) and it's easy as pie unless you're playing Bb.
Thank you Sean! I have been diligently practicing the A barre chord shape for almost a year, and haven’t perfected consistently getting the high E string to ring clearly. This always bothered me, and for some reason made me feel like an inferior player. Based on your advice, I’ve finally decided to let this obsession go 😊
It depends on what you're playing and how you're playing it as to how important the high E ringing out is. But yeah, if it's not important to the melody, don't worry about it. If it is, then experiment with different methods until it works for you. Everyones hands are different, and what works for you might not work for me and vice versa. The most important thing is that you're enjoying playing. Have fun making music 🤘
Here’s a more comfortable way to play and Open A: make the shape for an Amaj7… but just slide you pointer finger up from the major 7 to the A on the G string. Your fingers will group together wasaaay better than the way most people play an open A with pointer, middle, ring in a row. So instead, use middle, pointer, then ring. Then going from A to the maj7 or and open E or a D will never be easier cuz your pointer only needs to slide up and down 1 fret, if that. Trust me, even if you’re at a “pro” level, this will feel like a revelation.
I completely relearned how I play the A shape barre chords 15 years ago. Now I use 2 fingers to cover the 3 strings. It's much better for me. The flamenco way. Ring finger covers D and G strings and little finger covers B string.
For an open A, I've settled into the habit of making an Amaj7 shape, but holding the first finger on the 3rd string up higher so it's fretting on the second fret. This sounds cleaner.
Thanks Shaun, I'm a student at age 77 years young, couldn't make whole chords if ya paid me, so I thoroughly enjoy 'Less is easiest. 😅 You taught me 1, 6, 2 ,5! Thanks thats what was missing over my head. I Taungt myself as I couldn't learn if ya paid my lessons.😂😂
For me it’s harder to get 3 fingers aligned on adjacent strings on the same fretnumber vs a bending ring or pinky. Fat fingers with big knuckles…Never had issues with barchords though. They came quite easy early on. Also, you can lift gently your barring finger while moving down and reaching high E.
Using the ring or pinky finger to barre the A chord and have the E string ring out requires you to be hypermobile with weaker ligaments. Most people can’t do it and it’s not due to lack of talent or effort but their ligaments are too strong to be bent.
I use my little finger because my knuckle on my left hand finger is really bulbous. I hardly ever get the high e string to ring. My fingers are short too,I tend to mute more than I would like anyway. Working on it.
Always use my pointer and ring finger.never worry about the high E string lol.already have one A note don’t need two.lol.i dolove the triad shape.use them alot
The only time my short fingers play off - I literally had to pick up my guitar to see if I'd fundamentally misunderstood how to play the shape 😂. But, no, my ring finger slots neatly in, super easy, no problem at all, e rings out fine. Can see it'd be harder if you've got long fingers. If you do have this problem, you can also easily just use middle, ring and pinky - if you can have the e ring out with the Am shape, you can with the A shape too. Advice is good if you do want fewer notes but it's not hard to play at all.
Good video, sensible. Had to comment though on how we think differently. At 1:10 you said you move the whole thing down, to me that´s moving the whole thing up, I mean the notes are ascending, no?
Great stuff! I learned the lesson some years ago re guitar accompaniment of vocals/playing full chords or whatever...as you pointed out: Nobody cares!!!! If you are accompanying a singer - whether yourself or someone else - the only thing the audience cares about is the vocal. Most of the stuff we guitarists worry about "getting right" is going to be noticed (if at all) only by guitar players in the audience. So...who are you playing for, those two guys or all the other people at the gig? ;)
No issues with fingering barre chords, but why does my wrist fatigue quickly? I assume it is my posture and neck position. I typically play sitting down.
My guess is it's probably more thumb and wrist position. Also, try to play without tension in your hand. If you watch really great players you will notice that they touch the fretboard, they don't squeeze it. I play with a strap, even sitting, as I have never been able to play comfortably on my right leg. I started on a classical nylon string guitar, which has no strap buttons, and you had to both hold the guitar and play at the same time. I got used to cradling it in my lap. Classical players play on the left leg, with a high neck angle for a reason. I'm no master player, so take my advice with a grain of salt, but give it a try.
@@tahoemike5828 To further add to this: I use a Guitar Lift with my classical. That way I can sit straight with both feet on the floor and still have that nice neck angle for a straight wrist. I'm guessing that it would also hold an accoustic, but don't know what the actual weight differences are.
Never could get it so never did it. Just another reason I don't consider myself a very good guitar player. Great to hear it's actually OK 😎👍 Thanks man
The high E seems like it would be more important if you are playing an upstroke, but the trade off is that the low E is probably not as necessary in that moment.
The two mistakes people make with barre chords are thumb placement and gripping too tight. It's the latter that makes the A-shape hard. Loosen your grip and it will make fretting the high e string so much easier.
Even Yngwie does the one-finger A major bar chord shape. Check out the intro to his song Fire. You really couldn't play that song if you tried to get that high E note to shine.
In my case, I'm physically unable to pop my knuckle like that, ring or pinky. So I have no choice but to mute the E string when playing A-shaped barres.
The right way to play any chord is the way it works for the individual player. We don't all have identical hand anatomies, so what works for one player won't work well, for another. I can't play an F shape chord with my short, outward curved thumb hanging over the top of the neck, or I will mute half the notes. So, I don't. Another thing that happens when you have to really press to get a chord to ring out, is you end up sharpening all the notes in the chord. Fortunately, there are many ways to play any chord on a guitar so, if you can't play it the same as some one else, don't fret over it. Yeah, I said that.
I just fret using all four fingers. It limits my pinky being handy to get more passing tones, but people using one finger always blew my mind and I refuse to try lol
I think you need to be double jointed otherwise you need to use 3 fingers. this is completely comfortable for me and is probably the easiest chord shape for me to play
Am I the only one who just skips the higher octave and plays the plays fifth with my ring finger and the third with my pinky? It looks like I’m playing a dominant 7 chord but I’m just muting the G string.
Just found this channel, Dude reminds me of Don Jr. if Don Jr. was an actually cool guy lol I'm lazy; I just omit the high E string or the A string, i.e. XX7775 or X5777X
It always sort of hurts me vicariously (not sure how to say that in normal English) when I see someone bend their fingers that far backwards.. like if you see a kickboxer break his leg and it's bent in an angle 😬I know it's not per se something abnormal, but let's say I have quite different genetics when it comes to that 😅
Major 7 doesn't always sound right. Answer is to give yourself options depending on context. Nothing to do with a major 7 being 'classier', it's just another chord.
Most people can't hyperextend as much as you and some people can't hyperextend at all. Getting used to using 2,3 and 4 with a barre is the best solution if you want to hear the 1 string.
All that’s really needed is a triad, so if you want the high E string use your index finger(no bar) and use your pinky and ring finger for the 3rd and 5th. Thanks for posting, very informative!
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4:45 "no listener is ever gonna care" ...... words that too many guitar players refuse to hear ....... I see players fussing over things that, in reality, no listener is ever gonna care about. Well said and applicable to much more than "A shape barre chords'.
awful thing to say
@@isaacbeen2087y tho?
Both yes and no. The average listener can't pick those subtle differences apart, but sometimes, the subtle details can make all the difference. Sometimes, you need fill those frequencies in.
The less people you're playing together with, the more you need to.
But then again .... those in the know will know ... who do you want to impress? The great unwashed or those who know ....?
@@ralfybaby the ones paying the bills.
A friend of mine is a brilliant player who has gigged for at least thirty years. When I started playing I watched him a lot and it took me ages to figure out what chords he was playing, because once he left the "cowboy's" none of them looked like the chords I was learning. Of course they are, but he REALLY knows what he is doing and how to make things easy for himself. It's like painting, mix too many colors and you end up with a muddy brown mess!
Hey! He used my comment! 🙂
Glad to hear I'm not the only one who has issues with that A-shape bar-chord. Drives me crazy when I block the high E string -- but I guess I really should just let it go and not worry about it. Thanks!
OMG!!! Just deaden the high E string! I usually do that and bar the first position A chord.
I've been playing for 25+ years, and I never played the 1st string on a barred A chord until recently. All the songs I learned growing up in the 90s never had the high E ring out. Also, congrats on the signature guitar. That's an amazing accomplishment for any player!
Same
My guitar teacher told me the same thing not to even worry about muting the high E, it said it’s really insignificant
Cheat code: Use your pinky instead, hurts less.
Holy shit, never thought of that, will have to try it next time
Hurts like hell playing December though.
my pinky isn't strong enough
I've been doing the same thing for decades! Other guitarists think it's weird.
But then i cant hammer on add4 with the pinky, which is one of my most used hammer ons
Moving on to learning triad inversions (major, minor, and even diminished) up and down the D-G-B strings and then the G-B-E strings and learning those different shapes really opened up my playing options. I had a teacher give me an exercise playing 12-bar blues, two strums per inversion and then moving up or down to the next triad, and it forced me to learn all the shapes and all the inversions and move between then quickly.
When I first discovered that the recommended chord shapes were actually just "suggestions" as to how to make the desired sounds, I was like, "Huh...?" It was your description of alternative chord voicings, some with just a few notes, that provided the auditory suggestion of the whole chord, accomplishing the goal of sounding right, while being simple to execute; game changer for someone who only had a few lessons as a kid and felt attached to "doing it right." Thanks, Sean!
Might be controversial but why not use the three fingers not holding down the root to play those three notes? That's what I've always done and never had any problems. Plus, it makes switching to the A7 , sus4, sus2, maj7, minor etc. easier. I do have small fingers though so I guess that makes it easier getting them all to sit inline
This, i dont know why people try making their lives harder by trying to using one part of their finger to cover three strings. Pointless and creates unnecessary tension while playing.
Depends on the song. I play it barred more for blues. Just what feels right. Though songs like rem everybody hurts the high e is crucial.
I have larger hands so I can't really do this but I'm able to get the d and g string with my ring finger and the b with my pinky. Still most songs don't require the e to ring out.
@oswinhull4203 yeah, that makes sense. Personally, I really identified with that Elliott Smith interview where he says he likes chord progressions that have some implied melody in them. I tend to deliberately write chord progreesions where the highest note is the note of the melody - in those cases, having the high e ring out feels more important
Using all three fingers past the root A cowboy chord is actually much harder as you move down the neck. It’s actually a pretty insane stretch landing all three fingers while holding a barre on an acoustic.
I never cared about getting the high E to sound. I just did it Ramones style. Then I moved on to just using triads instead of chords for a lot of stuff.
There's another reason for these chord alternatives ... especially for me ... I have the absolutely straightest ring finger ever.
Absolutely impossible to bend that knuckle AT ALL. Not too many instructors/ video people consider and/or address this point.
Thanks!
This was so incredibly validating. Thank you for posting this
Sean...excellent video -- thank you. I've been playing guitar for 30 years and the bent-back-ring finger is impossible for me. It looks cool, but I simply cannot do it anatomically. I have the opposite of hitchhiker thumbs; my fingers are rigid and do not bend back words at the knuckle. If I try, I end up lifting up my finger off both the high E and B strings. Not good. So I play the base note 5th sting and then barre the 4th-2nd stings and mute the high E. Works for me. Plus, I think chords sound better with less stings. Like Andy Sommers or Johnny Marr. Most chords are 3 to 4 notes anyhow. Again -- thanks for giving me a pass!
What really made the difference with barre chords for me was discovering that they are really two chords in one. It was that damned F chord that did it, and trying to learn 'Yesterday' from sheet music that was in the original piano key. It had chord diagrams on it, and they showed the F as xx3211, and the C as xx5553 rooted on the G string (Easy, fully moveable 4 string chords!). But what about that F root on the E, and the 5th on the A? Turns out that is ye olde Power Chord (f5)! It's a twofer! Once you learn the two halves, it somehow gets easier to play them together. It also turns out that, as Sean said, you rarely need the whole thing, usually you are going to accent either the top or bottom few strings more anyway.
Yesterday is played using G chords with the guitar tuned down 2 frets
Old teacher here… as for about every thing else, depends on the hand. Size, flexibility, etc… Good time to learn triads regardless. Thanks!✌️❤️
Maybe I’m one of those whose finger joints naturally bend back, but I’ve always found it easy to play with my ring finger across the 3 strings for a full chord. Most people who see me do that comment that they could never do it. Sean is right, it doesn’t matter that much, but having multiple ways to play the same thing is handy. Also quick changes 1 to 4 and back are good playing that way. Knowing your way around with triads is probably more important/useful than full bar chords in the end.
This video is so validating, because I've felt like this for awhile, but everyone seems to think these hard shapes matter so much. If you're recording it thats one thing, but for any live performance it doesn't matter
Where were you 30 years ago when I thought this was necessary, still I suppose the clamping force I had to achieve will come in handy if I'm attacked by a boa constrictor . Great video
that was really good Sean. Thanks
A variation of the first-finger barre approach if you still want that route in there is to play it on the low E -string (instead of the A) with you pinky, i.e., three frets up from the barre.
Thanks for validating all of us that struggled with this. You should do lesson on selective strumming and muting techniques bc that's major impediment to playing "easier" versions. I suspect many find it even harder to not fret high e, which can totally wreck certain chords
That was the answer I was hoping to hear. I've been playing guitar since the early 80's, and I just gave up sweating that E string on the A major bar chord shape. It comes out often enough, but I don't care when it doesn't. Over the years I've developed various "shortcuts" if it's a piece where that note *must* come out.
As with everything guitar related, it depends. If you are playing in a band and somebody else is covering root position chords? Have a good bassist rocking out down there? That's a fantastic opportunity to use the simpler chord shapes. That said, if you want to really improve as a guitarist, you should at least have the whole A barre chords in your arsenal. If you are just accompanying yourself and you aren't playing the low root, your sound will tend to be thinner than you really want it to be.
Now, on a music theory level, if you don't play the low root, you are actually playing a different inversion of the chord, which can impact the way your accompaniment is perceived. The lowest note - the note that is in the bass - that is what determines what chord/inversion you are actually playing on a theoretical/listener's musical perception level. (Something something tension, resolution, this is a youtube comment, not a theory lesson...I'm trying not to get too far into the weeds here for sake of brevity!)
Regarding the high E, absolutely spot on. Nobody cares. Four notes are plenty. The guitar generally has enough overtones in it that even if it's not actually there, some people will hear it as being there anyway (because fun acoustic sciencey stuff that I also don't want to get into the weeds here!)
Anyway, TLDR - to quote my first sentence: "It depends!"
Love your sense of humor Sean! You are right about leaving out that high e. I did the same thing intentionally yesterday while playing at church. NOBODY knew. I asked several people. I think the main thing is try and get those 3 notes the chords are built from.
Started playing guitar at 16, am 60 now. I will never forget learning that A shape bar chord and how freaking painful it was. My guitar teacher insisted on the high E ringing out. F That! I quit lessons after only 3 weeks. Have never bothered with the high E. As you said, who gives A. My love for guitar has never changed, I still learn new things today. Just learned another way to do it right now. God bless brother. My advice is the same. Play what you love and stay away from torturer guitar teachers. They destroy more students by using the same rules for everyone. We are all different, our hands are all different. You can’t teach everyone the same. We need to find our own way, and our own way of playing. Don’t kill your self or destroy your hands, we only have two of them. ❤
Love it that you dig Covet
It's crazy how you can make an easy thing harder ;) I use 3 + 1 finger for that shape! It's completely effortless. I wouldn't even be able to do that 1 + 1 shape no matter how hard I would try. It looks like really, really, impossibly, ridiculously hard. I never tried it not because I knew better, but because well, my fingers are way too clumsy to even try such shapes ;)
I stopped worrying about the high e string for that shape a long time ago. Nobody cares and you don’t need it. I stopped caring about it for the root A chord also. It’s so much more fun to just leave the high e out. And sometimes I leave the bass note depending on what I’m playing. To just get the feel of the note with just the triad of the bar.
You had another video that touched on that topic that was the lightbulb moment for me. I used to think the E string had to ring and it drove me crazy, cuz my knuckles just don't bend that much to create the sharp angle that lifts the finger off the high E string. Then you casually mentioned that it's ok if it's muted and I felt like "ohhh, all this time I thought it was a must". Back then I had zero grasp of theory and triads, it didn't even cross my mind that note already existed on the 4th string regardless. I could always play the full barre chord with all strings ringing using my other three free fingers, but just thought the ring finger/pinky barre looked fancier and like the "pro" way. Now I just use whichever way I feel in the moment and don't care if it comes out ringing or muted.
Been playing for 45 + years, and I never did worried about the high string; mostly I didn't because my knuckles just don't flex like that, I'd damage a joint! Though I knew a guy could really bend that finger .. but it's mostly a genetic thing. If for some odd reason I feel like I really need that top string in there, then I'll squeeze my middle, ring and pinky tips all inside that one fret instead of barring it. Of course that only works so far up the neck as the fret space gets tighter (The 7th fret is as far as I can take it), so if you really need, or want, to get that high 5th tone to sound in a chord for some reason, I'd say, just play a different voicing or chord pattern; it's not worth the pain!
The best teaching is often so simple. Thank you! Why have I been worrying about jamming my fingers into this A barre shape for 20 years? Especially when I could have added so many more options for alternative voicings, hammer-ons etc.🤦♀️
Something you didn't mention is to depress both the d and g string with the ring finger and use the pinky for the b which is what I do if I really need every note available. But yeah a lot of the time I make a choice to either let the high e or b string ring out but I can get them all if the song requires it. Honestly I think guitar players usually work around that. For example b minor is super common in guitar songs but you rarely see b major. I have to think part of this is because b major is more difficult to play cleanly. You can also just play the b major chord up higher on the neck where the bass is on the low e. Also you can use a capo.
Nice work Shaun. It's good to remember in life that perfect is the enemy of good.
I agree with the high e, but the a inversion sounds different so i usually try to get the root right. But what i want to add is you can hammer-on the the a bar (second finger) like in sultans of swing to go from the IV to the V chord
You can also use your pinky or ring finger to hold down the E string to get a major 6 chord.
I agree with you. I gave up trying to get that high E string to sound out on A-shaped bar chords - that top joint on the ring finger just wouldn't bend clear without snapping. There's already a fifth in the mix anyway.
It's just the difference in anatomy as well, my ring finger physically won't bend upwards for high E to ring. Also my pinky is bent weirdly innward I can't utilise it properly. But that only means I would sound like "me".
Our deficiency's and proficiency's make up our perceived style...I can hear what a guitarist prioritizes in their practice when I hear them gig. Vibrato...clean chord changes...modal phrasing etc.
I always play the bass note, and I always mute the high E string. On purpose. As soon as I found out that Jazz players play all kinds of "inside 4 string chords" then it just made sense. I never really considered leaving out the bass note, because the 1st finger is what I use as a "Home Base."
You had me at ignoring the high E string on the A-form Barre.
You lost me at ignoring the low root on the A string. If you're playing with a bassist--you're right. Triads are smarter and more flexible.
But, most cats hitting that A-form Barre are solo singersong riders (sic) who need that low sound to get the chord to stand up to other chords with a full bass sound.
Pull back on the guitar neck as you do the A-form double-stop (to lessen the grip force needed) and it's easy as pie unless you're playing Bb.
Thank you Sean! I have been diligently practicing the A barre chord shape for almost a year, and haven’t perfected consistently getting the high E string to ring clearly. This always bothered me, and for some reason made me feel like an inferior player. Based on your advice, I’ve finally decided to let this obsession go 😊
Now we're getting tips on tonsorial titivation as well as terpsicordian talent a free bass would top out my guitar collection great stuff Sean ❤😊
Thank you for this!
It depends on what you're playing and how you're playing it as to how important the high E ringing out is. But yeah, if it's not important to the melody, don't worry about it. If it is, then experiment with different methods until it works for you. Everyones hands are different, and what works for you might not work for me and vice versa. The most important thing is that you're enjoying playing. Have fun making music 🤘
Here’s a more comfortable way to play and Open A: make the shape for an Amaj7… but just slide you pointer finger up from the major 7 to the A on the G string. Your fingers will group together wasaaay better than the way most people play an open A with pointer, middle, ring in a row. So instead, use middle, pointer, then ring. Then going from A to the maj7 or and open E or a D will never be easier cuz your pointer only needs to slide up and down 1 fret, if that.
Trust me, even if you’re at a “pro” level, this will feel like a revelation.
I completely relearned how I play the A shape barre chords 15 years ago. Now I use 2 fingers to cover the 3 strings. It's much better for me. The flamenco way. Ring finger covers D and G strings and little finger covers B string.
For an open A, I've settled into the habit of making an Amaj7 shape, but holding the first finger on the 3rd string up higher so it's fretting on the second fret. This sounds cleaner.
Thanks Shaun, I'm a student at age 77 years young, couldn't make whole chords if ya paid me, so I thoroughly enjoy 'Less is easiest. 😅 You taught me 1, 6, 2 ,5! Thanks thats what was missing over my head. I Taungt myself as I couldn't learn if ya paid my lessons.😂😂
For me it’s harder to get 3 fingers aligned on adjacent strings on the same fretnumber vs a bending ring or pinky. Fat fingers with big knuckles…Never had issues with barchords though. They came quite easy early on. Also, you can lift gently your barring finger while moving down and reaching high E.
Using the ring or pinky finger to barre the A chord and have the E string ring out requires you to be hypermobile with weaker ligaments. Most people can’t do it and it’s not due to lack of talent or effort but their ligaments are too strong to be bent.
As someone who started out doing metal power chords, 2:48 comes naturally.
I use my little finger because my knuckle on my left hand finger is really bulbous. I hardly ever get the high e string to ring. My fingers are short too,I tend to mute more than I would like anyway. Working on it.
Congratulations on the signature guitar that is really cool.
Your very own, signature Martin?!?!?!! Grace upon Grace.
I've been doing that for years and always felt like I was cheating. Thank you for validating this method!!
Always use my pointer and ring finger.never worry about the high E string lol.already have one A note don’t need two.lol.i dolove the triad shape.use them alot
The only time my short fingers play off - I literally had to pick up my guitar to see if I'd fundamentally misunderstood how to play the shape 😂. But, no, my ring finger slots neatly in, super easy, no problem at all, e rings out fine. Can see it'd be harder if you've got long fingers.
If you do have this problem, you can also easily just use middle, ring and pinky - if you can have the e ring out with the Am shape, you can with the A shape too.
Advice is good if you do want fewer notes but it's not hard to play at all.
Thanks for another great lesson. Haven’t heard a Salty Bless Comment in a long time. Too funny!
Wow, a signature Martin. Congrats!
Good video, sensible. Had to comment though on how we think differently. At 1:10 you said you move the whole thing down, to me that´s moving the whole thing up, I mean the notes are ascending, no?
I like following your lessons on Patreon, they are numbered
Great stuff! I learned the lesson some years ago re guitar accompaniment of vocals/playing full chords or whatever...as you pointed out: Nobody cares!!!! If you are accompanying a singer - whether yourself or someone else - the only thing the audience cares about is the vocal. Most of the stuff we guitarists worry about "getting right" is going to be noticed (if at all) only by guitar players in the audience. So...who are you playing for, those two guys or all the other people at the gig? ;)
Proper posture with help. The classic position. The guitar should be on your left knee if you're a right handed player.
No issues with fingering barre chords, but why does my wrist fatigue quickly? I assume it is my posture and neck position. I typically play sitting down.
My guess is it's probably more thumb and wrist position. Also, try to play without tension in your hand. If you watch really great players you will notice that they touch the fretboard, they don't squeeze it.
I play with a strap, even sitting, as I have never been able to play comfortably on my right leg. I started on a classical nylon string guitar, which has no strap buttons, and you had to both hold the guitar and play at the same time. I got used to cradling it in my lap. Classical players play on the left leg, with a high neck angle for a reason. I'm no master player, so take my advice with a grain of salt, but give it a try.
@@tahoemike5828 To further add to this: I use a Guitar Lift with my classical. That way I can sit straight with both feet on the floor and still have that nice neck angle for a straight wrist. I'm guessing that it would also hold an accoustic, but don't know what the actual weight differences are.
Never could get it so never did it. Just another reason I don't consider myself a very good guitar player. Great to hear it's actually OK 😎👍 Thanks man
huge congrats on the signature martin! How about hooking up your longtime followers? Just those of us who remember the hanz sponsorship
It's the great lesson of punk rock: Close enough is good enough
The high E seems like it would be more important if you are playing an upstroke, but the trade off is that the low E is probably not as necessary in that moment.
The two mistakes people make with barre chords are thumb placement and gripping too tight. It's the latter that makes the A-shape hard. Loosen your grip and it will make fretting the high e string so much easier.
Some people feel that efficient = lazy. This shows efficient = genius. Thank you Sean!
Even Yngwie does the one-finger A major bar chord shape. Check out the intro to his song Fire. You really couldn't play that song if you tried to get that high E note to shine.
I use my middle and ring, that seems to be easiest for me, with the ring only having to bar 2 notes makes it easier to avoid the high e.
Ik it’s a well known trick, but my favorite is moving the A string root up 4 frets to play a first inversion
In my case, I'm physically unable to pop my knuckle like that, ring or pinky. So I have no choice but to mute the E string when playing A-shaped barres.
I’ve always had issues with the three finger squeeze into an open A chord. Don’t get me started switching from A to Amaj7.
Good advice.
Please make the video about keeping your guitars down a step&ahalf 👌
The right way to play any chord is the way it works for the individual player. We don't all have identical hand anatomies, so what works for one player won't work well, for another. I can't play an F shape chord with my short, outward curved thumb hanging over the top of the neck, or I will mute half the notes. So, I don't. Another thing that happens when you have to really press to get a chord to ring out, is you end up sharpening all the notes in the chord. Fortunately, there are many ways to play any chord on a guitar so, if you can't play it the same as some one else, don't fret over it. Yeah, I said that.
Thought since the thumbnail said ‘move’ I assumed it was going from C to G to C, but good info on the A barre, I was curious about this.
You can just bar and use three fingers to make that chord much easier and cooler looking 😊
I use my pinky to do that and block the first string if it doesn't sound good.. I find it the most comfortable way of playing a Db or D#
I just fret using all four fingers. It limits my pinky being handy to get more passing tones, but people using one finger always blew my mind and I refuse to try lol
This is pure unadultered wisdom
I have no thumb and a half sized pinky on my left hand, this is the only way I can barre the A shape when I need the high E string.
You forgot to mention that if you play all 4 top strings it’s an A6. Add a pinky on the next fret and it’s an A7
I think you need to be double jointed otherwise you need to use 3 fingers. this is completely comfortable for me and is probably the easiest chord shape for me to play
Am I the only one who just skips the higher octave and plays the plays fifth with my ring finger and the third with my pinky? It looks like I’m playing a dominant 7 chord but I’m just muting the G string.
Just found this channel, Dude reminds me of Don Jr. if Don Jr. was an actually cool guy lol
I'm lazy; I just omit the high E string or the A string, i.e. XX7775 or X5777X
Unless you’re recording something that needs an specific sound like that, you don’t need that demonic shape, very informative video Maestro
@dovydas may get the fancy high end Fenders, but a signature Martin easily trumps that ;-)
I don’t have backwards facing knuckles! They don’t bend that way!
I honestly can't even manage it, I just use my 3 fingers in the classical way in front of the barre
It always sort of hurts me vicariously (not sure how to say that in normal English) when I see someone bend their fingers that far backwards.. like if you see a kickboxer break his leg and it's bent in an angle 😬I know it's not per se something abnormal, but let's say I have quite different genetics when it comes to that 😅
Simply avoid that troublesome shape by making it a major 7...when in doubt, make it classier...maybe?
Major 7 doesn't always sound right. Answer is to give yourself options depending on context. Nothing to do with a major 7 being 'classier', it's just another chord.
@@notmyname3681 the classy comment is an inside joke for this channel. Sounding "right" is up for opinion.
I have worried about that high 'e' string even though I gave up on ever getting it to ring out. Now I will forget about the 'a' string as well.
Most people can't hyperextend as much as you and some people can't hyperextend at all. Getting used to using 2,3 and 4 with a barre is the best solution if you want to hear the 1 string.
I'd sell my soul for Sean's pinky...🎸🎸🎸
All that’s really needed is a triad, so if you want the high E string use your index finger(no bar) and use your pinky and ring finger for the 3rd and 5th. Thanks for posting, very informative!
Tell me your Signature is a Green Martin 😂
Also BTW many congratulations, well deserved 🎉🎉
Martin loves you
My double jointed unstable fingers are bad at lots of stuff but at least I can do this chord easily lol