Barr chords

[Pretender]

Does anyone know of a way to stop your hand from cramping when playing barr chords? I normally have this problem playing songs that require a lot of barring and in is very frustrating to say the least

Daniel

[shane88]

light strings + lo action to start
i suspect u r squeezin too hard too

[Ken Ho]

Practice, practice, practice.
Experienced players use an economy of effort, where they only fret for as long and as hard as they need to, and relax as much as they can.
Heavy strings on an acoustic with barres near the nut are always gonna be hard, and take some time to build the endurance to endure.
I sold my 12 string recently cos my mildly arthritic hand could not handle barring an F chord without pain.

[macheesmo3]

I try to play barre chords involving the low E by using my thumb to fret the E string notes and my index the high E and B string notes then the other fingers fall as normal. This is much more comfortable for me and a lot less tension building.( I have kinda big hands too , not super long fingers tho)
I can sometimes pull it off live with A string barre's as well but after a couple of rounds it gets trickier and I usually revert to normal form. But as another feller said, economy of motion and tension will save you lots of aches and creaks.YMMV

[Pretender]

Thanks guys for your advice. I hope I can sort it out,,sounds like i need to practise a lot more!!!

[Mark Ray]

What helps me the most is using MASSIVE neck carves. No girly-man necks allowed in my guitar rack!

Mark

[devnulljp]

Double stops and distortion :D

Relax
Practise
Relax some more
Practise some more

Wash rinse repeat

[Ken Ho]

Double stops and distortion :D

Relax
Practise
Relax some more
Practise some more

Wash rinse repeat

Yes, good point !! Full barres not often required in electric ladyland, just the juicy notes, and a nice wallop of crunch and a bit of palm-mute or scratch.

[Joe Robinson]

Play along with the Ramones catalogue everyday. Start with a song or two, then increase the time.

[shredtrash]

This is going to sound ridiculous but here goes: I had a buddy in music school that said he used to, while playing, say over and over again "wet noodle, wet noodle". This helped him stay relaxed. I've done this for years, especially when soloing, and you wouldn't believe how relaxed and fluid you stay. I suspect it might work for your problem. Give it a try. It couldn't hurt.

[macheesmo3]

You're right! That does sound ridiculous !!!! :-p

[Solomon]

Use your hip as a fulcrum with the strumming arm/elbow applying pressure or leverage against your fretting hand.

[Dana Olsen]

In addition to practice, something we ALL need to do more of, has your guitar been setup by a pro?

If not, you GOTTA have your guitar setup by a pro. The difference between playing barre chords low on the neck with the nut slots cut too high and cut just right is literally night and day.

Get your guitar setup by a GOOD TECH - emphasis on GOOD. When I first started playing electric guitar, I thought I was just uncoordinated - until I started playing other guitars, then I realized it wasn't ME, it was the bad setup.

Hope this helps, hell, I hope this totally solves the problem (GRIN), Dana O.

[Old Tele man]

...LOTs of neck radius (7-1/4" not 12")!

...the flatter the neck, the harder it is to handle (sorry about the pun)!

[VCuomo]

Practice, practice, practice.
Experienced players use an economy of effort, where they only fret for as long and as hard as they need to, and relax as much as they can... +1000 I've been playing 'em for over 40 years (jeez, that makes me feel old) and trust me you'll get to a point where you won't even think about it anymore.

[DeaconBlues]

"...LOTs of neck radius (7-1/4" not 12")!

...the flatter the neck, the harder it is to handle (sorry about the pun)!"

I find it's just the opposite. :huh

[sugarlou]

Substitute "open" chords for the ones u are barring. Done.

[clapointe1]

Drop D on the E !

[bostonwal]

"...LOTs of neck radius (7-1/4" not 12")!

...the flatter the neck, the harder it is to handle (sorry about the pun)!"

I find it's just the opposite. :huh

Curved board for chords, flat for bends. If you think about it the curved board removes the need to flatten out your index finger. It brings the board up to your fingers rather than making your fingers travel further to press down on the board.

I wonder how much fret size affects fretting. I guess it's whatever is comfortable to you. Although one thing is for sure, fretless wonder frets make fretting unforgiving. You have to be precise with it. I imagine the larger the fret, the more forgiving the fretting attempts.