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Video Question: Barre Chords

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Date: November 5th, 2007 | Length: 3.43 | Instructor: David MacKenzie

Louis Aves asks: "Hi Steve- What is the correct position of the thumb when making a barre chord ? I have tried putting my thumb in line with my first finger and also running my thumb along the neck pointing toward the nut but both cause a lot of pain around the base of my thumb when I move position.The only way I can kind of do it is by bending my thumb in almost a right angle shape and using the tip, not the pad,to press on the back of the neck but this makes for quite a lot of movement and time to get from open to barre chords and vice versa. Any suggestions? (Apart from sell my guitar ! ) Love the lessons Steve." 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.
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Other Video Responses:

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
Jane Says Song Help - October 10th, 2007 (0 minutes, 59 seconds)
Sphar1 says, "When I play the song and bar the A chord it sound funny to me. Maybe because I am also covering the E string. Should I be strumming that last string?" View Response
Square Perpendicular Fingers - February 20th, 2008 (3 minutes, 14 seconds)
Dannychoo asks, "i had asked this question on the message forum and got a response, but kinda difficult to visualize it so i thought i'd ask here again. my problem is that i have a difficult time keeping my fingers square to the fret. i've seen videos of people playing scales and their fingers are very square to the fret. mine are always kinda leaning towards one side. i'm also having problems with fingers "flailing" around... as in when my pinky is down my index finger would be like 2 inches off the fret. help please! thanks." View Response
Left Hand Right Hand Timing Issues - June 7th, 2007 (1 minutes, 37 seconds)
Boergoat says "I have trouble getting my pick and my fingers on the left hand on the same string, any suggestions?" 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