Newbie - can't play a B minor

[Cezar20]

No matter how much I try I just can't seem to play a B minor. Don't know how to 'correctly' describe fingering but the way I am trying to play it is: 2nd fret barred from 2nd string from the top all they way down, 3rd fret second string from the bottom etc (clear as mud - sorry don't know how to describe it any better).

 

So I'm trying to practice chord changes by doing it in keys. And I can't move past G, because of the blooming B minor. So I go, G, Am, Bm, C, D, Em. I just hold it for the 4 counts as my finger dexterity is not really improving and I can do it comfortably at about 70 bpm but any faster and I can't change to the B minor fast enough. The obvious answer is practice, practice, practice, but could there be anything that I am doing wrong? Is this a normal rut that a newbie encounters?! Geez keyboard is so much easier to learn IMHO.

[Compact Diss]

go slower.

Watch your fingers while switching to the Bm.

 

The finger that seems to land last or the one which gives you the most trouble with landing on the fretboard make this be the first finger to land--

 

go slower, watch your fingers, harder first easy last--

go slower

 

it all gets better with time...

[TeleCarlos]

Keep at it... it is one of those milestones.

 

Can't teach you how but I'll motivate you.

 

Think how you'll never relegated to the bakground at gigs.

You will actually score chicks playing guitar. No one will question your preference.. you know?

You will never be "the guy that gets pick on" at live gigs.

You will score free drinks!

Guitar necks compensate for, or give the image of "size".

 

Sorry, got to go now, but I'm sure others here will bring to light the advantages of a "real" instrument.

[Vin-erator]

Originally posted by TeleCarlos:

but I'm sure others here will bring to light the advantages of a "real" instrument.

TeleCarlos is right. Keep your goals in sight and it will all come to you.

 

Why don't you try this: Instead of using your index finger to bar the fifth and first strings at the second fret, why not have your index finger play one or the other note?

[EmptinesOf Youth]

man i remember first learnin C and G (it was only 4 years ago) and i thought it was so hard to switch between the two, now obviously as for most, its nothing.just keep it up man, youll get it soon

[Funk Jazz]

practice your barre chards further up the neck, like around the 9th fret, until you gain some strength.

 

as said before, be patient & persistent

[Cezar20]

Thanks for the very helpful replies.

 

Just a few more points if it helps. I find on a nylon string classical guitar I can do it fine (almost) and on a steel string it is a lot harder. Same with an electric.

 

Barring the 2nd fret is fine as is the middle finger. Its the pinkie and ring finger who refuse to move.

 

Everyone says this is the easiest way to play a B minor, is that true?

 

Will keep practising, thanks heaps!

[Tedster]

Hey, keep at it. Even if it sucks...it will get better with time.

 

Bm is a very important chord...as the relative minor of D...you'll use it a lot. Plus, there's nothing "magic" about a Bm...it's just a chord barred like Am...so, if you can play that, you can play any similarly shaped minor chord.

 

Here's how I teach beginners...

 

Play an Am. Now play an Am with the last three fingers (leaving your index finger open). Slide it up two frets. Now add the barre.

 

Here's a potential problem. Some folks seem to have difficulty making their index finger flat, thereby getting a good barre. Their index finger wants to bend at the second knuckle. Work with your hand position until you can do it. It might entail making sure the pad of your thumb is the only thing pressing on the center of the back of the neck.

 

I've run across a few people who will never be able to do a barre chord. Among them are folks who have sustained some tendon injury in their fretting hand. But, keep working with it. You might want to take a lesson or two to have an instructor check your grip. Think golf...ya know...?

 

Read your last post....make sure your neck is properly aligned and your action is low enough. If you're using .013s, and your neck looks like a bow...you're going to have problems...

[Dave da Dude]

Tedster,

Here's a potential problem. Some folks seem to have difficulty making their index finger flat, thereby getting a good barre. Their index finger wants to bend at the second knuckle. Work with your hand position until you can do it. It might entail making sure the pad of your thumb is the only thing pressing on the center of the back of the neck.

Actually, I intentionally curve my index finger, but lay it on the strings on its SIDE. It may, or may not, be traditional fingering, but for me, it works.

 

BTW, I originally learned Bm as a non-barred chord (index finger on the 1st string 2nd fret, mute 5 & 6), FWIW.

 

Oh yeah, and practice, practice, ... well you get the idea. Just ask my wife about thirty years ago when I first REALLY learned the barre chord to play "Smoke On The Water" on my Martin for my cousins band. Hours, and hours of practice to "nail" it. My wife STILL hates the song. And now I just recently found out that he (Zack Wylde?) actually played it on 5th and 6th strings

[Chad Thorne]

This is why God made capos.

[Mudcat]

You could also try using the "John Lennon" minor chord formation. Instead of barring the second fret, just finger the high E string at the second fret. You would then mute the low E & A strings with your thumb.

 

Like this:

 

1---2-

2---3-

3---4-

4---4-

5---X-

6---X-

 

You can slide this formation around the fretboard just like a barre chord. Not a good formation for heavy metal but it works for most other situations.

[LeftyBlues]

Cezar - how long have you been playing, and how often/how long do you practice? Just curious, because it takes a while before playing a guitar is comfortable. You're asking your hands to do things that aren't natural, so you have to keep at it until the muscles and what not get into condition. You'll get there!

[SEHpicker]

Learning to play bar chords will be a huge "quantum leap" for you in your guitar playing future. Several simple bar chord patterns allow you to play almost any chord on the guitar by just moving up and down the neck. So put plenty of energy into bar chords as they will serve you extremely well in a variety of ways. Learning bar chords will also help you to understand how notes and patterns on the fretboard relate to each other.

SEHpicker

[Tedster]

Originally posted by chad:

This is why God made capos.

Well, uhmmm... (I know you're kidding, but I feel a need to dispel a common beginners' myth)

 

Not really, because, even in open chord songs, the need will arise to play barred chords sooner or later. In the open keys of D, A, and E, the relative minors are all barre chords...you'll be cheating yourself out of tons of songs that you'll be able to play if you do that.

 

Around here, we have tons of guys who've been playing guitar for probably 60 years. None of 'em can play a barre chord...because they don't use 'em in three chord gospel bluegrass songs. So they capo EVERYTHING

[dohhhhh6]

I don't do Bm the way you do it at all.

 

Suffice to say my way works well for me.

[Chad Thorne]

Originally posted by Tedster:

Originally posted by chad:

This is why God made capos.

Well, uhmmm... (I know you're kidding, but I feel a need to dispel a common beginners' myth)

 

Not really, because, even in open chord songs, the need will arise to play barred chords sooner or later. In the open keys of D, A, and E, the relative minors are all barre chords...you'll be cheating yourself out of tons of songs that you'll be able to play if you do that.

 

Around here, we have tons of guys who've been playing guitar for probably 60 years. None of 'em can play a barre chord...because they don't use 'em in three chord gospel bluegrass songs. So they capo EVERYTHING

I WAS kidding, but my life re: barre chords has gone kinda full circle. At first I couldn't play them, then I could and used 'em a lot.

 

For what I do I came to hate them, because they all have that heavy perfect interval (the "power chord") on the bottom. Now I never use them, and it IS possible to avoid them. (Check Ted Greene's book, "Chord Chemistry".) The one place barre chords don't sound heavy to me is on a nylon-string guitar. Must be the bracing or something.

 

On the odd occasion when I'm just screwing around with country music or something on a steel-string acoustic, I often use a capo to take advantage of open chord shapes.

[Dan South]

Try some of these options...

 

|-2--

|--3-

|---4

|---4

|-2--

X----

 

|------7--

|------7--

|------7--

|--------9

|--------9

|------7--

 

|------7--

|------7--

|------7--

|--------9

X

X

 

|-2--

|--3-

|---4

0

X

X

 

|-2--

|--3-

|---4

X

X

X

 

|-2

0

X

0

|-2

X

 

|------7

|------7

|------7

0

X

X

 

|------7

|------7

|---4---

0

X

X

[alfonso]

Anyway, a good exercise to do very slowly with chords that seem difficult to catch in time, that can help to gain "fingering consciousness", is to put your fingers in the position, then,very slowly and without pushing too hard with the other fingers, move off the fretboard each finger and on again in turn.

 

Another execise that is useful for learning barree chords, because it helps all the other fingers, thus remooving a lot of fatigue from the hand, is to practice all the 3 finger chords without the index finger. This is exactly the work that the three last fingers do when you take a barre chord, and more the confort for them, easier will be your barre chord.

 

This has to be done very slow too and with relaxed hand.

 

A well placed finger can make a string sound great without stressing your hand at all. If you place your fingers near the fret rather than in the middle between two frets, it's easier to get a good sound with a light touch. This is true for the barre too.

 

Always remember that the best technique is the one based on the smallest muscular stress. I'm still working on it, and I'm playing 30 years now...

[Cezar20]

What can I say! This forum is excellent. Will try ALL suggestions once I get home from work today.

 

Have been playing on an off (more off than on) for the past year, with very little time spent on it (think almost zilch, zip, nada). But I have new found dedication and now try to practice 4 hours a week.

 

Also, I'm only aspiring to be a rythm geet, not lead, does playing scales for hours on end assist in chordal technique?

 

Very inspiring replies, thanks a million.

[Tedster]

Originally posted by Cezar20:

Also, I'm only aspiring to be a rythm geet, not lead, does playing scales for hours on end assist in chordal technique?

 

Very inspiring replies, thanks a million.

Well, hmmm...I would say that by "only aspiring to play rhythm"...well, IMO, chords are the most important part. I'm a fair lead player, but, I'll always defer to another lead player, even a beginner, if it calls for having the chords correct. I guess what I'm saying is that don't underestimate the power of rhythm.

 

BUT...why limit yourself to any given aspiration? Don't aspire to become a rhythm player or a lead player...aspire to become a guitar player. Sure, play some scales. Play some arpeggios and chords...have fun! Branch out!

[Dan South]

IMHO, rhythm is the most important role for the guitar. Any instrument can play a melody, and many good songs have no solos, anyway. But rhythm guitar cannot be duplicated by any other instrument. It's also more demanding technically. A lead player can be extremely sloppy with timing, and no one would ever know. A rhythm guitarist has to be TIGHT with the groove, or the whole song suffers.

 

Rhythm rules!!!!

[Dave da Dude]

Originally posted by Dan South:

IMHO, rhythm is the most important role for the guitar. Any instrument can play a melody, and many good songs have no solos, anyway. But rhythm guitar cannot be duplicated by any other instrument. It's also more demanding technically. A lead player can be extremely sloppy with timing, and no one would ever know. A rhythm guitarist has to be TIGHT with the groove, or the whole song suffers.

 

Rhythm rules!!!!

Dan, you don't know how much that helped me right now

I have been despairing that I may never be a good lead player, or any kind of lead player. I'd like to be able to do some hot lix just to branch out in my styles; but it doesn't come easily to me. Rhytm, on the other hand, seems to come easily to me.

 

Now if I would only practice more than thirty minutes a week ....

[Chad Thorne]

FWIW, Keith Richards says you can't go into a music store and pick either a "lead guitar" or a "rhythm guitar" off the walll. "Course, he's just a rhythm guitarist...

[Tedster]

Originally posted by Dave th Dude:

I have been despairing that I may never be a good lead player, or any kind of lead player. I'd like to be able to do some hot lix just to branch out in my styles; but it doesn't come easily to me. Rhytm, on the other hand, seems to come easily to me.

 

Now if I would only practice more than thirty minutes a week ....

Dave...you'd be surprised at the amount of people that are rhythm impaired. I see a lot in my journeys as a beginning guitar teacher. I call it "Frankenstrumming"...because they strum with the same stiffness as Frankenstein trying to walk.

 

Any time you despair for your lack of lead...just pull out a U2 album and listen to the Edge. Or any funk album, where the guitar is just chunkin' on 9th chords.