Barr chords

[Ron]

I am finding it almost impossible to barr chords. Can I substitute diminished and augmented chords for some of the really hard ones for me like the F. These are killing my arm.

[StoneDragon]

There are many different ways to play an F chord, but substituting augmented and/or diminished chords is not usually a good option. That F barre chord is like the guitar player's "rite of passage". Nailing that sucker is usually one of the first major accomplishments along the road to mastery.

Everybody has to go through the same trial that you are now faced with. Keep working at it a little bit at a time. Try it here and there.... then forget about it and work on other things.

What eventually happens is that the muscles in your wrist and hand develop to the point where that chord becomes easy. In the mean time.... if you are trying to play a song that has to have an F in it then you can use this fingering:

E| |-1-|---|---|---|
B| |-1-|---|---|---|
G| |---|-2-|---|---|
D| |---|---|-3-|---|
A| |---|---|---|---|
E| |---|---|---|---|

You still have to barre the B and E with your index, but the fingering is a bit easier.

[Gazaridis]

Also, see how wide your nut is (the white bone/plastic near the head). Mine is a full 2 inches wide, where most other guitars have 1.5" wide nuts. Although my guitar is good for fingerpicking, barre chords are much harder - not impossible (a few freinds of mine have done it), but a little less encouraginghttp://www.zentao.com/ubb/smilies/megafrown.gif