- E and Em Chords
E and Em Chords
Open position E and Em become Barred shapes!Go to Barred E and Em.
- A and Am Chords
A and Am Chords
Open position A and Am become Barred shapes!Go to Barred A and Am.
- D and Dm Chords
D and Dm Chords
Open position D and Dm become Barred shapes!Go to Barred D and Dm.
- G and Gm Chords
G and Gm Chords
Open position G and Gm become Barred shapes!Go to Barred G and Gm.
- C and Cm Chords
C and Cm Chords
Open position C and Cm become Barred shapes!Go to Barred C and Cm.
- Conclusion
Conclusion
Barred chords map out the fretboard!Go to Barred Chords Conclusion.
- Connect Shapes
Connect Shapes
When you can play all chords, connect them!Go to Connect barred chord shapes.
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Learn how to play barred chords!
In order to play more chords than the first ten open position chords you can use your index finger to barre the strings, by doing this you replace the nut of the guitar.
To learn how to fret barred chords we use an exercise called “The Cycle Of 4ths”.
The exercises will teach you how to fret each individual barred chord shape.
As you play the chords; say the name of them out loud, this will teach you all the notes on the neck.
This means that the exercises on the following pages do two things:
- Teach you to fret a shape.
- Teach you all the notes on the neck for string 6, 5 and 4.
Cycle of 4ths Exercise
As you progress through the S-E P R you will see many exercises using the concept of cycle of 4ths.
Since the cycle moves up a 4th continuously we get the effect that we move through all keys before we come back to where we started.
The only other interval cycle this happens to is the cycle of 5ths, which move the opposite way.
Apart from being a great tool, it is good to firmly understand the movement of 4ths in music, many chord progressions move through it.
For example turnarounds often move VI – II – V – I, which is up in continuous 4ths.
In Blues we get a 4th up movement between I – IV and V – I.
