Barre chords

[Hudmister]

I think we're being a little too literal with the barre chord definition.

Yup, me too.

[Charles E.]

I use barre chords mostly. I think it gives more access to minor and seventh chords. I have not played a bluegrass A chord in 30 years, let alone a B.

[keithb]

I wrote an article in 2005 on this very topic and my approach. Maybe it will help some. It is certainly useful if you want to crack walnuts with your 3rd and 4th finger or if for some strange reason you want to snap the neck of your mandolin off at the 5th fret:
Here is the article.

Great article. I think a lot of guitar players instinctively learn to do this - I can easily play barre chords on guitar and mandolin without using my thumb at all by applying the "weight of my arm" (really it's the shoulder supplying the strength)

[mandroid]

I do, though because of the way Mandolins are tuned its not the index finger across all the Strings.

I use the idea of re dedicating different fingers to make simple open string chords work as movable ones.

take G form, index finger on G&D strings, , ring on A, pinky on E ( A B C)

C,,, pinky does E, A ring the D, index the G.. (D E, F)

D, , index holds D & A.. middle the G, , ring the E .. reversed for Dm..


Had to grok this myself, pre internet,,

[farmerjones]

So am I the only one that catches the G strings with my thumb, ala Richie Havens? I reach over on banjer and guitar too.

[Tobin]

So am I the only one that catches the G strings with my thumb, ala Richie Havens? I reach over on banjer and guitar too.

That's a guitar player trick which is just wrong, wrong, wrong on the mandolin!

(Despite the leniency of most people here who will cheerfully tell folks to do whatever works for them, and that there's no such thing as "wrong", I'm taking a hard-line stance on this one. I will be sending uniformed responders immediately to your location to initiate re-education protocols.)

[farmerjones]

That's a guitar player trick which is just wrong, wrong, wrong on the mandolin!

LOL!

I'll call and raise you one. I made a quazi-instructional video with me making a two-finger D chords thusly.
I'll be honest, I actually caught myself, watching it back. I need something? Is there Bourbon in this protocol?

[Tobin]

Is there Bourbon in this protocol?

Bourbon comes later in the program, as a reward. First you must go through the reprogramming portion. It involves a frowning hefty nun who stands by with a stiff ruler to smack your hand when you try that thumb business.

[Lord of the Badgers]

I must admit I'm not sure what the argument is here - whether it's for or against.... or whether we're all agreeing!

I barre, or I don't. It totally depends. The band is often about moveable shapes - makes it easier. my f5 has quite tight string spacing, so it's easier anyway.

[Mark Gunter]

I don't think there's any arguing going on, just a good discussion about how and where to use the thumb

I was fortunate enough to have one class with a mandolin teacher last year, a really good local musician. I was trying to make more of a barre with my hand to play some chords that required adjacent fretting on strings, and he told me, "You can catch those notes with a finger without barring." I went home and practiced it, and he was correct - which resulted in a better hand position. Sometimes guitar habits can get in the way of playing mandolin.

[Kevin Stueve]

That's a guitar player trick which is just wrong, wrong, wrong on the mandolin!

(Despite the leniency of most people here who will cheerfully tell folks to do whatever works for them, and that there's no such thing as "wrong", I'm taking a hard-line stance on this one. I will be sending uniformed responders immediately to your location to initiate re-education protocols.)

Well even on guitar when I wrap my thumb for D/F#. I feel a little guilty pleasure.

[Bill Kammerzell]

I use barre chords mostly. I think it gives more access to minor and seventh chords. I have not played a bluegrass A chord in 30 years, let alone a B.

For me, when arthritis kicked in, I began using barre chords in place of bluegrass chords. I just couldn't make that stretch any longer. It was easier to do, especially since I had started out on guitar. It still amounts to how I do the chop anyway, and how it sounds. For most all the major chords, there are one or two 3 finger chords to make where the bottom string is muted. Can still do a chop on those. For me its all in how it sounds when I do it, not so much how I'm doing it.

[Sherry Cadenhead]

I wrote an article in 2005 on this very topic and my approach. Maybe it will help some. It is certainly useful if you want to crack walnuts with your 3rd and 4th finger or if for some strange reason you want to snap the neck of your mandolin off at the 5th fret:
Here is the article.

Brad, I printed your article a couple of years ago and have tried off and on to use the technique for the dreaded (by me) barre A chord. Should this technique work for smaller hands? Once I place my 3rd and 4th fingers, my 1st finger won't stay parallel to the frets and my thumb rolls to the back of the neck.

[Bill McCall]

Just play 3 strings on the barre chords. So much easier and so little additional sonic information in the doubled root note. Ymmv.

There’s also the 677x barred A chord, which is quite useful.