Video Question: Help With Barre Chords

January 8th, 2008 - LipstickManiact says, "I have problems with barre chords. Just can't find the right position of my 1st finger. For example...if i play D major barre (C shape) 3rd string doesn't play and I have a similar problem with other chords. I can't understand and find the right position. I didn't find answer in lessons, because teachers just say lay down your 1st finger below the fret. Please help..just show me what to do with 1st finger exactly." Return to Video Q&A Listing


Length: 1.75 | Instructor: Matt Hammond Another benefit of being a member of JamPlay is the video response section. Our expert staff fields questions from our members and provides video responses each week.

Other Video Responses:

Hand Cramps - February 19th, 2008 (2 minutes, 40 seconds)

Reverb75 asked, "Hi matt I have a two handed problem here, When playing rhythm with barr chords, Hand cramps up severely in the palm, to the point I can`t even finish the song. also with the right hand, if I am struming rhythm to say an upbeat tune, the right hand tires. this is very annoying. maybe rhythm playing is just not my bag lol, THANKS MATT." View Response

Classical Guitar Strap - June 9th, 2008 (2 minutes, 19 seconds)

admira asks, "Hi. I watched Steve Eulberg say it's easy to drill holes in an acoustic guitar and screw strap buttons in it. I have a classical (nylon string) guitar, and I want to know if there's absolutely no problem doing so. Can't it damage the sound of the guitar or something like that? In addition, I noticed Willie Nelson uses a somewhat strange guitar strap, on his classical guitar, which attaches to the bottom of the guitar's sound hole. Is this considered to be a better solution for a classical guitar? Could it too damage my guitar somehow? Thank you very much, Eran." View Response

Numbed and Sore Fingers - August 29th, 2007 (1 minutes, 35 seconds)

Brandon asks "I was wondering if there was any way to cut down on the amount of numbness i get in my left hand after practicing on my guitar? I only recently started playing and have found the numbness on my fingertips to be a nuisance at my job. Any suggestions or comments would be appreciated." View Response

- July 10th, 2008 (4 minutes, 70 seconds)

Luelennon asks, "Hello everybody, my question is the following: I play the guitar (by ear and have a very basic musical knowledge) but have always played rhythm. I would like to learn lead. What would you say would be the best way to start? I am now trying to learn to read tablatures, but there are a lot of terms that I don´t know what do they mean ( Riff, Fill, etc), about this, is there any lesson regarding how to read the tablature? Thank you very much. Regards Lue" View Response

Chord Songbook - April 11th, 2008 (3 minutes, 29 seconds)

Mogs asks, "Hi wonder if you can help please. I've only been playing guitar for a few months and still mastering the basic chords. Somtimes this gets a little boring so I try learn a popular song to add a little fun to my practice sessions. The problem I have is how to read chord songbooks. For example I have a Johnny Cash Song 'Ballad of A Teenage Queen' the intro is written in the book as: CAPO 1ST FRET [A] Dream on, Dream on, [D] teenage [A] queen [D] Prettiest [A] girl we've [E] ever [A] seen. I understand the capo part and have it set up correctly. My question is how many times do I strum the chords ? Looking at the above is it, (A) on 'dream' only or (A) on 'dream' and 'on'. I kind of get it if theres only one word after the chord but when theres two or three I'm not sure wether I strum on each word even though it doesnt show the chord before each word. Hope this is not a silly question, but would really appreciate your advice. Thanks Mogs PS. The site is fantastic, its given me so much motivation to keep on with the practice sessions." View Response