Video Question: Barre Chords

February 17th, 2007 - KKringle wrote in and asked about barre chords. She wanted to know if playing and learning them was easier on the guitar and if her hands were cut out for playing the guitar. Return to Video Q&A Listing


Length: 5.18 | Instructor: Jeff Booth 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:

Bending Strings - September 10th, 2007 (3 minutes, 13 seconds)

ChipC asks "Really like your lessons, I have a question on bending. I watched your lesson, are you rotating your wrist and keeping your fingers locked in to bend the string or are you pushing the string up with your fingers, when you were doing the 7th fret, 3rd string bends...I think I read somewhere that you were suppose to twist the wrist somehow or use the wrist to create the bend...but I'm not sure and wanted to get the word from you." View Response

Chord Songbook - February 19th, 2008 (2 minutes, 70 seconds)

Mogs asked, "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

Mustang vs. Jaguar - April 1st, 2008 (1 minutes, 26 seconds)

Laurenb asks, "Hi, I am about to buy a short-scale guitar and have played both the Fender Mustang and Jaguar in the shop and liked both. If any of the instructors have played or know about these guitars could you please tell me if you think one is better than the other in regards to tone, body shape, maintenance and overall quality? Are there any problems with either guitar in your opinion? I don't want to have to spend extra on upgrades and constant maintenance. Any advice would be much appreciated. Oh, I live in Japan so both guitars are Japan-made re-issues. Thanks, Lauren" View Response

- June 18th, 2008 (2 minutes, 35 seconds)

Paigew asks, "I got a cheap guitar off of ebay that was a mistake. I was taking of me strings when my nut fell of. What glue should I use to put it back on or should I take it to the shop to get it put back on." View Response

Thumb Independence - April 21st, 2008 (3 minutes, 10 seconds)

Kenstyle asks, "How much is the thumb really independent during finger style and how much of it is super coordination with the right hand? thanks in advance!!! Love the lessons" View Response