Barre or bar chords in guitar are basically played using the index finger to bar all six strings (by flattening the index finger), with the remaining fingers in various positions in front of that bar for different chord shapes. So why do we need bar chords in the first place?

Suppose you’re working with a vocalist and you start a song in C Major. But the singer feels it is too low and you need to play a fret higher, which means all the notes of the song need to be moved one fret higher.

The problem with moving up a fret with a non-bar chord is the open strings don’t get moved up, and thus the new chord just doesn’t sound right. But once you use the bar chord version, the index finger acts like the new nut of the guitar, and you can easily move the chord any number of frets higher or lower.

The bar is an easy way to take all the chord shapes you’ve learnt till now and move them up or down the fretboard, to accommodate different pitches and sounds. Apart from giving you the flexibility to move chord shapes up or down a fret easily, bar chords also give you a more percussive sound, and enable styles with short notes or ‘staccato’ as we refer to them.

Bar Chord Versions of Popular Chords

The bar basically lets you mute the strings instead of letting them ring out, when you want to play short notes. When you use the bar across all six strings, it is referred to as a grand bar, whereas if you use it across a fewer number of strings, then it is a mini bar. Bar chords are a distinctive part of the sound of pop and rock music.

Learn to play the bar chord versions of common chords with C-based, E-based, and A-based shapes. You may find it a bit difficult initially to flatten your index finger across the strings, but once you get the hang of it, you’ll appreciate how versatile bar chords can be. In the next blog, you’ll learn all about seventh chords, so continue reading and enhancing your guitar skills.