Guitar Chords - Barre Chords

Barre chords (or bar chords) require one finger to fret most or all of the strings to play the guitar chord. The index finger is usually used to do this and enables the chord to be moved up and down the neck.

The diagrams below will show you how to play major and minor barre chords on a guitar in standard tuning. The curved lines shown in the diagrams indicate the notes that are fretted using one finger.

Major Barre Chord Forms with root notes on the 6th and 5th Strings

major barre chord on 6th string major barre chord on 5th string

Guitar Tab example of a chord progression using Major Barre Chords

     G              C              D                            
e||--3--3--3--3--|--3--3--3--3--|--5--5--5--5--|--5--5--5--5--||
B||--3--3--3--3--|--5--5--5--5--|--7--7--7--7--|--7--7--7--7--||
G||--4--4--4--4--|--5--5--5--5--|--7--7--7--7--|--7--7--7--7--||
D||--5--5--5--5--|--5--5--5--5--|--7--7--7--7--|--7--7--7--7--||
A||--5--5--5--5--|--3--3--3--3--|--5--5--5--5--|--5--5--5--5--||
E||--3--3--3--3--|--------------|--------------|--------------||

Minor Barre Chord Forms with root notes on the 6th and 5th Strings

minor barre chord on 6th string minor barre chord on 5th string

The guitar tab below is a similar chord progression with a minor barre chord (Em) included. Notice how the use of minor chords give progressions a different sound and feel.

     G              C              Em             D             
e||--3--3--3--3--|--3--3--3--3--|--7--7--7--7--|--5--5--5--5--||
B||--3--3--3--3--|--5--5--5--5--|--8--8--8--8--|--7--7--7--7--||
G||--4--4--4--4--|--5--5--5--5--|--9--9--9--9--|--7--7--7--7--||
D||--5--5--5--5--|--5--5--5--5--|--9--9--9--9--|--7--7--7--7--||
A||--5--5--5--5--|--3--3--3--3--|--7--7--7--7--|--5--5--5--5--||
E||--3--3--3--3--|--------------|--------------|--------------||