How I Learned to Quit Worrying and Love Barre Chords, Part I

I’ve always hated barre chords (the full kind, that use all six strings). When I was first learning to play the guitar, I found them difficult. Many players do. It was hard for me to play them cleanly. More importantly, I didn’t much care for the sound of them. Or, to be more precise, I’ve never much cared for the sound of songs composed entirely of them. They just sounded corny to me. I eventually got my technique together and got my instruments set up properly so I could play them. But I still never cared much for the sound of them.

But I’ve recently had a change of heart about the value of barre chords and about how to use them effectively. Playing them well involves the same strategy as playing open chords well. You’ll notice that people who use open chords effectively are rarely strumming all six strings at one with equal emphasis. They’re often strumming subsets of strings: the lower strings, the middle strings, or the upper strings. Often, two or all three of these subsets are used in the same strumming pattern. A common one is to emphasis the lower strings on the downstroke followed by an upstroke on the upper strings (and sometimes another downstroke on those same upper strings). The alternation between the bass and treble strings creates a drum-like groove. You can think of it as imitating the alternation between the kick drum and the snare.

If you play full barre chords with this same approach, you unlock part of their value.

But there’s another way of using barre chords that I have tended to overlook. And that’s the way in which they provide a map and an easy mnemonic device for all the chords shapes lurking in the full barre chord shape. This major barre chord yeilds ten useful chord shapes. These smaller chords, which contain between two and four notes, open up a world of new sounds. And associating them with their “parent” barre chord makes them easy to remember.

I gave these arbitrary names. You’ll see others, for some of them. Each of them will function as an A major chord. Note that an A major chord requires three notes: the root (A), the major third (C#), and the fifth (E). These are the first (R), third (3) and fifth (5) notes (a.k.a., degrees) of the A Major Scale. Let’s consider each shape in turn:

  • Shape 1 is the full barre chord. This is the shape I (in the past) loved to hate. But, as I mentioned before, it’s quite useful once you get your strumming together. It’s an incredibly redundant shape. From low to high, its intervals are R, 5, R, 3, 5, R. Thus, it contains the root three times, the fifth twice, and the third once. In the CAGED system (a topic for another day), this is the E shape, since it resembles the E major open chord.
  • Shape 2 is one version of the A Power Chord (a.k.a., A5). Since it contains no 3rd, it’s neither major nor minor. This lack of a third gives it both ambiguity and solidity. It’s very common in metal and a lot of rock music. It’s interval structure is R, 5, R.
  • Shape 3 is a simplified version of the A Power Chord (a.k.a., A5) containing on the the root and fifth (R, 5). To me, this one sounds even more clear and cutting than the three-note version. Technically, this isn’t a chord. It’s an interval. But that doesn’t matter. It can function as a chord.
  • Shape 4 uses only the bottom four strings. Being on the heaviest strings, it has a strong, deep sound. This is the shape I prefer for the full barre chord, in a lot of circumstances. And you can substitute this four-note version for the six-note version in most any situation. The intervals on this one are R, 5, R, 3. Thus, it reduces a lot of redundancy, compared to the full barre, while adding the solidity of the root in two octaves.
  • Shape 5 is sometimes notated as A/E because its lowest note is E rather than A. When we play chords, they are often stacked R, 3, 5–from low to high. But you can start on any degree of the chord. These versions build on degrees other than the root are called “inversions.” This inversion builds the chord starting on the 5th. It’s interval structure is 5, R, 3.
  • Shape 6 is another inversion staring on the 5th degree. Thus, it can also be noted as A/E, since E, it’s 5th is the lowest note (it is “in the bass”). This one doubles the 5th an octave up. Thus, it goes 5, R, 3, 5. I really like this shape. It’s easy on the hands and covers all the bases. It gives you a full sound with four notes. This and Shape 4 are great alternatives to the full barre when you still want a full sound.
  • Shape 7 is a lovely, very simple version of the chord with the R, 3, 5 stacked in the usual order, from low to high. This is great for R&B, funk, and other styles where you want a lighter sound on the guitar that doesn’t compete with bass, piano, horns, etc.
  • Shape 8 is basically Shape 7 with a little more sparkle, as it adds an octave on the high E string: R, 3, 5, R.
  • Shape 9 is great for funk. It’s an inversion built on the 5th. It’s structure is 5, 3, R.
  • Shape 10 is an inverted power chord. It’s just two notes, but the 5th is in the bass. Thus, it’s intervals are 5, R.

So, there you go. Lurking in that boring, challenging, corny major barre chord are a slew of different ways to voice the major chord, all packed into an easy-to-remember shape. To get these firmly under your fingers, take a few songs you know and try them out with each of these shapes.

The Future

Readers who attend to details will notice this is Part I. The next installment will cover the minor barre chord, giving it the same treatment I gave the major barre chord. Then we will move on to the 7th chords (major, minor, dominant).