Barre Chords
Movable chords – based on E and A Chords
Making BARRE CHORDS
• You need to know your 4-E and 4-A chords…
• Here are E and A (major) chords. (Saying “major” is redundant. Major is
implied by just saying E and A.
Making BARRE CHORDS
• Here are Em and Am… the m=minor. (Minor chords are darker/sadder
sounding chords.)
Making BARRE CHORDS
• Notice now how E and Am are super similar. Just shift the fingers
down – towards the floor – and you are there.
Making BARRE CHORDS
• These chords are used – but less often when making many barre chords.
E7 A7 Em7 Am7
E and A “patterns”
• To successfully make barre chords – you no longer think of these
chords as E and A chords, but E and A chord patterns. These chord
patterns, or even hand shapes, are used to make the various barre
chords.
Start with the INDEX finger
• The Barre chord gets it’s
name from us using our
index finger to stretch
across all the strings
somewhere on the guitar
neck.
• The remaining fingers will
be used to make one of
our E or A chord patterns.
Front of the fingerboard (E pattern)
So, where do we get the name for our Barre
Chord?
• Barre chords have essentially a “first” and “last” name.
• The “first name” (ABCDEFG) comes from wherever we
place our INDEX finger, or the barre, on the fingerboard.
• The “last name” is “Major” – “minor” – “7” – “minor 7”
• Ex: Fm7 – C7 – G – Dm
• Again – we don’t need an M next to our G to let us know it’s Major.
• Our 6th string is E
The neck of the • Our 5th string is A
guitar – and
• On these strings we
the 6th & 5th have a series of notes
Strings in alphabetical order
moving up the neck of
the guitar.
• The musical alphabet
is only ABCDEFG – and
then it repeats using
only these 7 letters.
The E String and the A String
• These are the natural
notes on a guitar – ones
• 0=E • 0=A not using sharps (#) or
• 1=F flats (b).
• 2=B • Notice that between E/F
and B/C there is no room
• 3=G • 3=C for another note.
• 0=open, 1=first fret, etc…
• 5=A • 5=D • (These are the white
notes on the piano.)
The E String and the A String
• In between we have
notes that use an
• 0=E • 0=A accidental – ones using
• 1=F • 1=A#/Bb sharps (#) or flats (b).
• 2=F#/Gb • 2=B • Each one has 2 names. A
sharp name and a flat
• 3=G • 3=C name. They get this from
• 4=G#/Ab • 4=C#/Db the natural notes on
either side.
• 5=A • 5=D
• (These are also the black
notes on the piano.)
Take a couple minutes - fill in our fretboard
with note names to the 12 fret:
th
A# B C C# D D# E F F# G G# A
Bb Db Eb Gb Ab
F F# G G# A A# B C C# D D# E
Gb Ab Bb Db Eb
Making barre chords with an E (major) pattern
F F# G
The pattern stays the same – it just slides up the neck of the guitar.
The chord name gets it’s name from where the index finger falls
on the E STRING!
Making barre chords with an Am pattern
Bbm Cm C#m
Again, the pattern stays the same – it just slides up the neck of the guitar.
Again, the chord name gets it’s name from where the index finger falls
but on the A STRING.
Starting to see the connection?
• So to make other E pattern chords you use the E pattern
and place the index finger anywhere on the fretboard
and get the name from the E string and that’s it’s
name…
If I place it on the:
• 5th fret, it’s now an A chord
• 9th fret = C#/Db
• 6th fret = A#/Bb
• 11th fret = D#/Eb
• Same pattern stays in your hand.
See the connection?
• And to make other Am pattern chords you use the Am
pattern and place the index finger anywhere on the
fretboard and get the name from the A string
(because it’s an A pattern) and that’s it’s name…
If I place it on the:
• 5th fret, it’s now a Dm chord
• 9th fret = F#m/Gbm
• 6th fret = A#m/Bbm
• 11th fret = D#m/Ebm
• Why is it “m” – because you’ve used an A “m” pattern.
E chords from the 1 st to 8th fret
• E chord patterns make: • Em chord patterns make:
1. F 1. Fm
2. F# 2. F#m
3. G 3. Gm
4. G#/Ab 4. G#m/Abm
5. A 5. Am
6. A#/Bb 6. A#m/Bbm
7. B 7. Bm
8. C 8. Cm
E chords from the 1 st to 8th fret
• E7 chord patterns make: • Em7 chord patterns make:
1. F7 1. Fm7
2. F#7 2. F#m7
3. G7 3. Gm7
4. G#7/Ab7 4. G#m7/Abm7
5. A7 5. Am7
6. A#7/Bb7 6. A#m7/Bbm7
7. B7 7. Bm7
8. C7 8. Cm7
A chords from the 1st to 8th fret
• A chord patterns make: • Am chord patterns make:
1. A#/Bb 1. A#m/Bbm
2. B 2. Bm
3. C 3. Cm
4. C#/Db 4. C#m/Dbm
5. E 5. Em
6. F 6. Fm
7. F#/Gb 7. F#m/Gbm
8. G 8. Gm
A chords from the 1st to 8th fret
• A7 chord patterns make: • Am7 chord patterns make:
• A#7/Bb7 • A#m7/Bbm7
• B7 • Bm7
• C7 • Cm7
• C#7/Db7 • C#m7/Dbm7
• E7 • Em7
• F7 • Fm7
• F#7/Gb7 • F#m7/Gbm7
• G7 • Gm7
The pattern
continues up and
beyond the 12th
fret on the guitar
Memorize this
chart you filled in
and you can play
just about any
standard chord.
Choosing our barre chord
• When you just have to use a barre
chord for a song, we try to pick a barre
chord that is closest to the nut and also
where we are playing our “home
position” or normal chords.
• I would choose to play an F# chord
using the 2nd fret (and an E chord
pattern) before I would use the F# at
the 9th fret (where I then have to use
an A chord pattern.) Just too big of a
jump.
Choosing our barre chord
• If you choose your note/chord and it
falls on the 6th/E string you MUST use
an E chord pattern of some kind.
• If you choose your note/chord and it’s
found on the A string you MUST use an
A chord pattern of some kind.
Choosing our barre chord
• You can play Fm in the 1st fret (Em pattern)
• You can play Fm in the 8th fret (Am pattern)
• You can play G# in the 4th fret (E pattern)
• You can play G# in the 11th fret (A pattern)
• You can play Bm7 in the 2nd fret (Am7 pattern)
• You can play Bm7 in the 7th fret (Em7 pattern)
Choosing our barre chord
• You can play Fm in the 1st fret (Em pattern)
• You can play Fm in the 8th fret (Am pattern)
• You can play G# in the 4th fret (E pattern)
• You can play G# in the 11th fret (A pattern)
• You can play Bm7 in the 2nd fret (Am7 pattern)
• You can play Bm7 in the 7th fret (Em7 pattern)
Choosing our barre chord
• Sometimes where you play your barre chord is
based on what chord you previously played or
what chord comes next. You want to pick the
one closest to where your hands currently are –
usually without getting too far from “home
position” and close to the nut.
• You ideally will use “regular” chords as often as
possible.
Draw your 4 E Chords
Draw your 4 A Chords
Hand drawn chords often look like:
• The line • If there isn’t enough
across is the room they sometimes
shorten the picture,
Barre. Dots draw the barre-line and
are fingers. then put a number next
to the figure to indicate
the fret – then the dots
for the fingers. This one
tells me it’s a barre
chord starting at the 5th
fret. Also an Am7
pattern. The name of
the actual chord is Dm7.
Draw chords based on E CHORD PATTERNS
Draw chords based on A CHORD PATTERNS
Hotel California Bm F#
• This song uses a Bm and F# chord to
start the song (and appears regularly
throughout).
• The Bm is an Am chord pattern in the
2nd fret.
• The F# is an E chord pattern – also in
the 2nd fret.
• Instead of sliding up and down to
change the chord – you move all of
your fingers up/down the strings,
staying in the same, 2nd fret.
Strumming pattern
• Minimum strumming pattern is D DU D DU (that equals 4 beats.)
• Double it to make 8 beats.
• A more interesting pattern is D DU UDU (also equaling 4 beats.)
• The “blue” arrows are where you are making contact with the strings.
Yellow – you move the arm/hand but make no sound.
Matrix of some basic strumming patterns
• Depending on the style
of the song, you may
want to choose a
strumming pattern that
works for you or for the
song.
