You may be asking, what exactly is a barre chords chart anyway? A barre chords chart, in simple terms, is a list of chord diagrams. Because the chord has to be represented visually for a person to see it and transpose it onto his guitar, the chord diagram serves as the illustration of the chord.
Every aspiring guitarist will have to learn to read a barre chords chart if he wants to get better at guitar playing. But how does one read this chart? Let’s take it part by part, shall we, as we learn how to read a barre chords chart?
Barre Chords Chart – Getting to Know the Chart
For you to better understand this article, imagine you have your guitar in front of you, or better yet, go get your guitar so that you can apply what you are reading right away. On a barre chords chart, you will see usually see a box-like diagram that has six horizontal and vertical lines intersecting one another. The first horizontal line represents the nut of the guitar, the rest represent the frets that divide your guitar fingerboard. The vertical lines in the barre chords chart, on the other hand, represent the strings of your guitar.
On these box diagrams in the barre chords chart, you will see black dots found in various positions on the lines. Along with these dots, you will also see numbers. The black dots will show you what strings and on which fret to press down on, while the numbers will tell you what fingers to use to press down on the strings indicated. The first finger is your index finger; the second finger is the middle finger; the third finger is your ring finger; and the fourth finger is the pinky finger. The thumb is often represented with a P in a barre chords chart.
Sometimes, you will see white dots on the diagram – white dots mean that the string should be played openly. A string that should be played openly means that there are no notes pressed down on the fret board. When you see neither black nor white dots on a string, this means that the particular string should not be played – some barre chords charts mark these strings with an X so that the guitarist will know not to play that string.
Barre Chords Chart – Practical Application
Let us take these pictures as an example:
Images courtesy of www.guitarchordsmagic.com
To apply what we have been discussing – you will see the basic F major barre chord illustrated in a barre chords chart, and an actual representation of it in a guitar. Refer to the barre chords chart first – you will see three black dots on the first, second, and sixth string of the first fret. These three dots represent the bar you will make with your first finger on the first fret, as you can see in the actual representation of the chord. Now on the second and third frets, you will see more black dots – one black dot on the second fret, third string, and two more black dots on the third fret, fourth and fifth strings. The remaining three black dots on the second and third frets in the barre chords chart show us an E shape chord, and to form this, you place your second finger where the black dot is on the second fret, and your third and fourth fingers where the other two black dots are found in the third fret.
It takes quite a bit of practice to get used to reading a barre chords chart, but it is important that you keep at it, because if you are serious about improving on guitar playing, learning to read a barre chords chart is a must. This is one good way for you to familiarize yourself with the different kinds of chords. Improving your technique in guitar playing will be greatly helped by knowing how to read a barre chords chart.