Fao Guitarists

Vladamir

FH is my second home
Joined
Dec 28, 2003
Messages
15,105
Ahoy thar.

I'm finally starting to make some progression with my guitaring skills after putting in some consistent graft for the first time in months but i'm coming up against a stumbling block.

A lot of the stuff i'm trying to play or would like to uses a lot of bar chords or chords higher up the fretboard than i'm used to, the problem is i can't cover more than 2 or 3 strings with my index finger before the sound gets pwned.

Has anyone got any tips or advice on being able to cover the strings without destroying the sound? :p
 

eksdee

FH is my second home
Joined
Feb 17, 2006
Messages
4,469
press harder, play more :p it's like stretching to do sports - your muscles eventually adapt to doing it and it will eventually come naturally and sound better. one of the things that helped my guitar playing a lot was that i started out playing bass, so my fingers were already accustomed to stretching large distances.
 

Sparx

Cheeky Fucknugget
Joined
Sep 30, 2005
Messages
8,059
shocker_poster.jpg
 

Azurus

Can't get enough of FH
Joined
Mar 21, 2005
Messages
1,263
It's a very normal problem just keep at it and it will improve, no real trick to it. Also accept that you're going to sound shit for a while and don't get demoralised, put in the hours and you'll see improvements. Try and play a good range of stuff, nothing pisses me off more then the 'Wonderwall' warriors who stop after learning 3 chords and reckon they rock.
 

kirennia

Part of the furniture
Joined
Dec 26, 2003
Messages
3,857
Try them while sitting down and place your thumb lower down the back of the neck. It makes it a hell of a lot easier to learn them like that.

I'd personally say that pressing harder isn't the way forward; if you have to press harder, you should check your guitars action (how far the strings are from the neck) and maybe adjust it.

As always, it's down to practice; I don't know of any guitarists who would say that they didnt struggle with them at some point of their guitar playing career...
 

fettoken

I am a FH squatter
Joined
Jul 18, 2004
Messages
9,640
Just turn up the amplifier and sh*tload of overdrive and play dat shit, then you won´t notice those few strings that doesn´t play right!!
 

Nate

FH is my second home
Joined
Mar 13, 2004
Messages
7,454
So I play Guitar Hero..I got it on the Wii but they don't have any fucking downloads, WHAT THE SHIT!?!! I'd recommend getting a band for the green button if you try to play Dragonforce on expert, it makes it a lot easier.
 

Killswitch

FH is my second home
Joined
Jan 29, 2004
Messages
1,584
Like the people above, I'd say it's just practice really. Rather than play chords, just practice holding your thumb against the middle of the back of the neck and holding down all 6 strings using your index finger. Sound each string in turn and try to adjust your hand position so all the strings sound properly. You might have to press harder than is comfortable at first, but you'll get used to it.

Once you can do the actually barre bit, you can start adding the shapes with the other fingers. It can actually be harder to do if you've done lots of "power chord" stuff because you get used to just barring the bottom 3 strings. Keep at it and you should be able to get it. Get a decent tab for Under The Bridge by RHCP or maybe When The Sun Goes Down by the Arctic Monkeys and give 'em a crack!
 

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