Essential Barre Chords

Essential Barre Chords

How would you like to be able to play any major chord, minor chord, seventh chord, minor seventh chord, or suspended chord in any key anywhere on the neck of the guitar? This lesson shows you 10 moveable chord forms allowing you to do just that. These chords pivot off a root (either on the 6th or the 5th string). All you need to do is find the correct root note and form the chord you want.

“Barre” chords are chords that do not use any open strings. Since they do not use any open strings, they can be moved to any place on the neck, achieving the same chord in a different key. So, by simply learning a few of these moveable barre chord forms, you can play in any key using only a few different chord forms.

This is not meant to be an extensive list of every possible chord but it can be a simple reference to the chords you need to know—because you’re going to see them a lot when playing in all styles.

Check out the Barre Chords Workout in the Guitar Power Workout section to get the practice you’re going to need to play these chords.

It may take awhile to build the finger strength you need to play these barre chords cleanly, so don’t give up on them. Give them plenty of time to develop. You’ll get them in time. Just keep working on them and eventually more and more strings will ring out clearly, and the chords will start to come together.

- Steve Krenz

Steve plays a Gibson USA Les Paul Supreme in this lesson.

Check out Gibson's Learn & Master Guitar course for more great instruction.

Internet Archive Page