barre chords

Sounds just like me. I have very stiff wrist and inflexible, shortish fingers. I also seem to have deeper 'grooves' in my fingers on the joints and holding a straight finger across all strings without at least 2 of them burring is difficult. My wrist stiffness means I'm always putting the finger across at an angle and not straight across the frets. I have practised and practised and just can't get there after many years. I agree, the lack of a barre chord Bm is a major problem with a lot of songs.

Like the previous answer I do find it a bit easier to change the guitar position; holding it more in the classical position and also resting it on my left knee instead of the right; it seems to make the wrist position less stressful.

On a few songs requiring Bm I find that using a simple D6 chord works quite well; not on all songs but some.

I've also tried practising with guitar tuned to an Open tuning (I use D) and that lets you use a straight barre up the fretboard to produce other open chords.

Good luck; I share your pain.

Try lighter strings.

Try this little exercise. Touch your index finger and thumb - make a rolling motion with these 2 fingers like you are trying to make a ball. Do this for 3 minutes. Then middle finger and thumb for 3 minutes. Then ring finger and thumb for 3 minutes. You can do this with the pinky and thumb, as well but this can get difficult. This little exercise will help build up your finger muscles and help with the cramps that comes with playing barre chords. Believe it or not this is an excerise that came to me from a proffessional arm wrestler.

One other thing, I have found that finding a simple 3 chord songs in the key of G very helpful in practicing barre chords. Going from an open C to a barre F to a barre G helps build muscle memory (even add a barre Am every now and then). And if you can't get the barre chords down - use a capo.

Nela

Blimey! I never expected such a great response. Thanks so much everyone for your great advice. I have found the holding the guitar in the classical position helps and also barre chords are easier the further up the neck I go (a barred F chord is virtually impossible). My action seems ok, in fact I have lowered it as much as it can go, any more and it will start to buzz. I am using lighter strings now but the sound of the guitar (VAG) is not as good as with heavier gauge strings so I may go back to the slightly heavier gauge. I will definitely try all the the positions and exercises so thanks again for taking the time to respond to my question. Much appreciated. Bill.

you might also try getting a palm size rubber ball and squize it alot,even when you are watching tv,a hand/finger exerciser bought at k-mart works well also.