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Learn Guitar Barre Chords

E Series Barre Chords (Sometimes Called the F Major Chord Shape)

E Major Guitar Chord

The diagram above is the E major guitar chord.  The E major guitar chord gets it’s name from the root note on the 6th string of the guitar.

If  every note of the E major chord is moved up the guitar neck by one fret then the root note will became F instead of E.

Have  a look at the chord diagram below. It’s called the F major guitar chord.

F Major Guitar Chord

You can see that the F major chord is E major moved up exactly one fret. There is a major problem with this new guitar chord though. E major used to have 3 strings that were played open. When you move the chord shape up one fret you now have 3 more strings to hold down – and only one finger to spare. You need to use a barre.

Using the barre your first finger (index finger) will ‘lie’ on the face of the guitar neck holding down the 1st, 2nd and 6th strings of the guitar. At first, this can be difficult, but with time and practice it will become easier. The other notes of the chord are fretted using the remaining fingers.

You now know that playing the E Major Chord Shape on the 1st fret with a barre will give you the F major chord.

The pattern of the shape holds true for any position on the fret board.

Here’s the list…

  • Play E major chord shape with barre on 1st Fret -  F major
  • Play E major chord shape with barre on 2nd Fret – G major
  • Play E major chord shape with barre on 5th Fret -  A major
  • Play E major chord shape with barre on 7th Fret -  B major
  • Play E major chord shape with barre on 8th Fret -  C major
  • Play E major chord shape with barre on 10th Fret -  D major

So we can play every major guitar chord with just one shape.

September 5, 2008 at 7:48 pm | Learn Guitar Chords | 3 comments

3 Responses to “Learn Guitar Barre Chords”

  1. Diminished Guitar Chords | Learn Guitar, on February 3rd, 2009 at 9:17 am Said:

    [...] Another thing to note is that there are no open strings in the chord. This allows you to use the diminished chord shape in the same way as a barre chord.  [...]

  2. Learn Guitar Major and Minor Scales Basics | Learn Guitar, on February 7th, 2009 at 4:22 am Said:

    [...] scale shape is movable up and down the guitar neck, similar to the way a barre chord can be [...]

  3. Learn Guitar, on June 18th, 2009 at 7:50 pm Said:

    I might add that it really takes time to learn barre chords so for beginners out there, do not get frustrated with your first session. Here a list of additional tips – learning barre chords.

    Nice tutorial btw. Keep it up! :)

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