Knowledge of barre chords can be one of your greatest assets as a guitar player

Barre chords also strike fear into many beginning and intermediate players

Barre chords can help increase your “knowledge” of countless chords – some with some crazy names

Here is a test: how quickly can you play an Ab13 without looking it up?

How about a Bbmaj9?

Or a Gbm7?

I know some of you can but I bet most can’t do it without having to look it up.

If you play guitar for any length of time, you WILL encounter a time where you have to play “that dreaded chord” on the spot!

I consider myself primarily a rock/pop guitar player (and yes, I include blues and country in that mix)

But I am not a jazz player. I am really a rock player who can play jazz.

That means I can sit in on a jam with jazzers and probably be fine with the “crazy chords” that inevitably come up. I’ve done this many times before.

Why?

Well, one of the secrets is knowing my barre chords.

Yes, those evil, nasty barre chords can be your greatest asset as a player!

So how does it work?

Before I get to that you need to be sure you have your barre chords down and sounding great!

If you already have them down, skip ahead. If not, this week I want you to focus on these FOUR barre chord shapes.

Major Barre Chord (root note on 5th string)

Major Barre Chord (root note on 6th string)

Minor Barre Chord (root note on 5th string)

Minor Barre Chord (root note on 6th string)

Get these four down – or least have an understanding of the shapes.

Next week I am going to show you how, by just a few simple changes to one of the primary four shapes, you can take on many of those “strange” chords you come across!

If you need help on how to play these chords, reply back and let me know.

Talk to you next week!