Video Question: A Shaped Barre Chords

Return to Video Question and Answer Listings
Date: November 2nd, 2007 | Length: 17.18 | Instructor: Jim Deeming

Mav67 asks: "I am facing a major obstacle whilst trying to get down these God forsaken A shaped barre chords. My ring finger will not bend at the top knuckle making it impossible to utilise conventional fingering that most other players use. The only way I can get it is to fret an A chord using fingers 2 3 and 4, then using the index finger for the barre. This is uncomfortable and difficult to move in and out of during chord movements. Can any of you please look into your vast vessels of knowledge and shed some guiding light to help me out? Thank you." 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:

- June 20th, 2008 (2 minutes, 32 seconds)

Gregdiehl asks, "I've been playing a basic chord version but when I listen to the original song I would think he has a special tuning on his guitar. does anyone there know?" View Response

Harmonic Minor Scale - October 31st, 2007 (1 minutes, 11 seconds)

Zofoblues asks "Hi.This is for brad.I am loving the scales and modes lessons and I would like to know where the harmonc minor scale comes from or is that not really a scale?a friend told me about it and says Randy rhouds played in it a lot.brad your lesson set is awesome and you should be proud of yourself!! Thanks steve" View Response

Pick - May 23rd, 2008 (1 minutes, 23 seconds)

Pnestegard asks, "I realize this is a simple question, however, I am having a terrible time holding the pic while strumming. When I am playing single strings I am fine. But while playing chords my pick tends to slip. Any help would be appreciated." View Response

- July 17th, 2008 (3 minutes, 13 seconds)

Stirlingc asks, "Dave, I recently saw your lesson on alternate picking. When i went and tried it on my guitar...it seemed as if my pick would "catch" on the string. When i kept trying to pick upward...i had to force it to come up all the way. Is there something I'm doing wrong when alternate picking? I've been trying the way you hold the pick and it doesn't help much." View Response

strumming - March 10th, 2008 (2 minutes, 16 seconds)

Mountainfun asks, "I am having a lot of difficulty figuring out strumming patterns for songs...is there a simple way of learning and hearing an upstroke from a downstroke? I can pretty well figure out when it changes chords....usually? Is there a lesson for this?" View Response