Playing Bar Chords

daveyjoe

I've recently switched from electric to acoustic guitar and I'm having problems playing bar chords on acoustic, I've adjusted the neck as much as possible but I'm still finding it hard to play bar chords past the 5th fret.

I understand that I need to apply more pressure when using acoustic guitars but what gauge (and brand if it makes a difference) would you guys reccommend for ease of playing, I'm currently using Martin Acoustic SP .012 - .054 "Light". By the way the guitar is an Ibanez Talman TCM50VBS Electro-Acoustic.

feylya

Nothing really stopping you from using lighter strings. I think you can get acoustic strings in 10's.

As for playing barr chords, you just need to build strength in your hand.

daveyjoe

Okay I'll pick them up in town tomorrow. The strings that I am having most problem with are the lighter Steel ones (1st E and 2nd and not the wound one's if that makes any sense to you. I knew I was spelling barr wrong, I didn't know if it was barred, barre, barr, bar or Barré.

Would lighter string definetely make it easier to play barr chords? Any particular brand?

feylya

Not sure about brands. Don't play acoustic much. Don't own one.

As for the plain strings, you sound like you just need to build strength in your hand.

daveyjoe

ok, thanks for the help (Hugs his electric guitar), I'll keep working on the bar chords so.

feylya

No Worries :P

Tunga

I thought it was barre?

Anyway, I've played Acoustic for about three years and first of all I could never get barres to work. It was usually the 5th string that I was holding down, but I'm sure this will depend on guitar, technique and hand shape. After a while you get it, really it's just a case of practise.

I only just got an electric, it seems easier to do barres on it but I've not even got an amp yet so I haven't tried it much. If you've played electric then you should already have the technique for sliding barres up and down the fretboard, so find some good tunes that involves a bit of this and play them lots .

I recommend using Nylon strings for the top three strings since these are much easier to hold down in my opinion. But you probably alread are anway. Steel strings are fine and give a different kind of sound, but I alwas preferred Nylon (I think they're Nylon, I don't actually know that much about strings since I never bought the replacements myself - my teacher always had some around he would give me).

Well, some thoughts, might be useful .

Doctor J

Nylon strings should only be used on a guitar designed to have nylon strings. Do not put nylon strings on a guitar designed to have steel strings. Apart from the uneven tension on the guitar's neck, the slots in the nut won't be cut large enough to allow the bigger diameter nylon strings to sit properly. Nor do they have a ball end to put in the pegs at the bridge.

daveyjoe

I don't know why but I never liked the sound of nylon strings, also I have a magnatic pickup in the guitar and I'm not sure that would work very well with nylon strings. Thanks for the advice though.

daveyjoe

Originally posted by Doctor J
Nylon strings should only be used on a guitar designed to have nylon strings. Do not put nylon strings on a guitar designed to have steel strings. Apart from the uneven tension on the guitar's neck, the slots in the nut won't be cut large enough to allow the bigger diameter nylon strings to sit properly. Nor do they have a ball end to put in the pegs at the bridge.

Thanks

Doctor J

No problem.

As for your barre chord trouble, bring the guitar into a shop and ask them to check the neck and the general steup of the guitar. After that, it's just a matter of practice and perstisence.

daveyjoe

My friend who's been playing guitar all his life, came over yesterday and he said that the guitar was setup perfectly, he said that the neck tension was a little bit too much, because when you play a chord hard sometimes the string would just touch off of the next fret and give a tinny muted sound. I better not mess around with the neck in future, I'm not quite there yet but it does feel like I'm getting better at playing barre chords. T'will be a long summer.

Tunga

Wel I always assumed they were nylon, mine are clear and feel like plastic...that's nylon right? My guitar was not a steel string guitar, it came with strings like these, but I didn't realise not all of them could take them. My bad, sorry.

And I only just spotted this is an Electro Acoustic and not a good old fashioned "round-the-camp-fire" acoustic, so wasn't thinking about the pickups, but you're possibly right .

Stick with it, it will come after a while regardless of what strings you use .

acid

Barre chords are much harder to play on a steel string acoustic guitar than on an electric or classical.
I would recommend that you stick with it, practise and you will find that they become easy with time.

Learning to play barre chords on an acoustic guitar builds the necessary strength in the hand, and forces you to use a more efficient technique. Once you can play barre chords on an acoustic, it will be simple on an electric.

Practise fingerpicking arpeggios, etc where each string/note is sounded separately, this ensures that you are forming the chord correctly.