No Bull Barre Chords for Guitar

By James Shipway

Master all the guitar barre chords you need to know to play literally hundreds of songs on the guitar. Essential knowledge for all guitarists and singer songwriters!

 

Many guitar players struggle with barre chords for months or even years... but with No Bull Barre Chords for Guitar you can systematically learn and master all of the essential barre chord shapes and techniques guitar players and singer-songwriters need to know, and in a fraction of the time it takes most other guitar players.

 

This book is perfect for you if:

• You are a beginner guitarist who wants to use barre chords to take your playing to the next step
• You've always struggled to play barre chords (and want to finally crack them!)
• You're looking for a systematic way to massively grow your knowledge of chord shapes on the guitar
• You're frustrated with not being able to play all the chords you need to play many of your favourite songs
• You know you need to learn about barre chords but are confused about where to begin
• You've tried playing barre chords but found them impossible!
• You want to use just a handful of chord shapes to play almost any chord you'll ever need to play!

This step-by-step guitar method book gives you the exact process that I've used in over 30,000 hours of hands-on teaching and shows you the practice techniques, exercises and 'insider tips' I've used to help hundreds of guitar players master barre chords and play the music they enjoy.

 

Inside No Bull Barre Chords for Guitar you'll discover:

• How to quickly learn and remember any chord shape...fast
• Barre chord hand position tips for crystal-clear sounding chords every time
• How to combine barre chords with other chord shapes like open chords to play literally thousands of potential songs
• Tips to get you smoothly changing between barre chord shapes (without it taking ages!)
• How to add strumming rhythm to your barre chords, common barre chord 'embellishments' and much more

Explained and demonstrated in 100% confusion free language with no music reading necessary, No Bull Barre Chords for Guitar can help you:

• Avoid most of the common barre chord mistakes which hold players up
• Avoid the common barre chord problems (weak hand position, 'dead' sounding strings etc) that can stop you in your tracks and make playing barre chords seem impossible!
• Practice and conquer the must-know barre chords you need to be able to play literally thousands of possible chord progressions and songs
• 'Unlock' the guitar neck to massively expand your chord library and be able to find a shape for almost any chord you'll ever need to play

With exact practice exercises and routines to follow plus free downloadable practice tracks, No Bull Barre Chords for Guitar is the answer to those barre chord blues, so grab your copy now and start your journey towards mastering barre chords today!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Headstock Books
• Release date: May 31, 2021
• ISBN: 9781914453212

James Shipway

James Shipway, born in Australia and raised in the UK is a professional guitarist and guitar teacher with over 25,000 hours of experience helping students of all ages and abilities reach their guitar-playing goals.  He's shared his knowledge with millions of guitarists worldwide via his YouTube channel and his online guitar academy, Total Guitar Lab as well as in his acclaimed 'No Bull' series of guitar books.  James first began playing guitar at 16. Self taught and with no prior musical education or experience, he still remembers very well how confusing guitar playing could be for a newbie. He brings this personal experience of struggling with adversity and confusion on guitar to everything he does, and his practical, , easy-to-use, 'BS free' approach to learning, playing and practicing guitar has gained him a legion of followers around the globe.  His recent book releases include: - Music Theory for Guitarists, Volumes 1 & 2 (Volume 3 coming soon!) - Barre Chords for Guitar - Blues Soloing for Guitar, Volumes 1 & 2 - The CAGED System for Guitar - Circle of Fifths for Guitar These books aim to boost a guitar players ability and confidence by breaking down and simplifying seemingly complex theory, techniques and styles.

Book preview

No Bull Barre Chords for Guitar

NO BULL BARRE CHORDS FOR GUITAR

LEARN AND MASTER THE ESSENTIAL BARRE CHORDS THAT ALL GUITAR PLAYERS NEED!

JAMES SHIPWAY

No Bull Barre Chords for Guitar

by James Shipway

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Published by Headstock Books

headstockbooks.com

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Copyright © James Shipway 2019

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All rights reserved. This book or parts thereof may not be reproduced in any form, stored in any retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means - electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise - without prior written permission of the publisher, except as provided by the United Kingdom copyright law. For permission requests, contact: [e-mail]

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Book Cover Design by ebooklaunch.com

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Paperback ISBN: 978-1-914453-20-5

Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-914453-22-9 / 978-1-914453-23-6

Ebook ISBN: 978-1-914453-21-2

Join me on YouTube and

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Join my online community Total Guitar Lab and get instant access to all my premium guitar courses plus live training, workshops and Q&A sessions.

CONTENTS

Introduction

How Should You Use This Book?

E Shape Barre Chords

Tips for Perfect Barre Chords (and Mistakes to Avoid!)

The Root Note: the Key to Using Barre Chords!

E Shape Barre Chord Training

The ‘3 Golden Rules’ For Perfect Chord Changing

The 3 Step Plan for Mastering E Shape Barre Chords

A Shape Barre Chords

A Shape Barre Chord Training

Combining E and A Shape Barre Chords

The D Shape Barre Chord and Other Useful Shapes

Other Useful Barre Chords

‘Suspended 4th’ Chords

‘Suspended 2nd’ Chords

‘Major Seventh’ Chords

‘Minor Seventh’ Chords

‘Dominant 7 Suspended 4th’ Chords

‘Major add9’ Chords

‘Minor add9’ Chords

Final Words

Useful Resources

Other Books by James Shipway

Guitar Academy and Courses

Useful Open Chord Shapes

INTRODUCTION

Hello and welcome to No Bull Barre Chords for Guitar!

Congratulations on choosing this book; you’re about to get a crash course in the essential barre chord shapes that all guitarists need.

Many people tell me that they find barre chords tough.

I know what they mean, the first time I tried to play a barre chord I thought my hand was going to explode. I couldn’t see how I’d ever be able to get my fingers to make the right shape, let alone get a decent sound out of it!

Of course with practice and perseverance I did learn to play them and soon, with what I’ll show you in this book, you will too.

You see, I’ve helped hundreds of guitarists and singer-songwriters learn to use barre chords in the music they play and I’ve learned a few ‘secrets’ along the way which can make a big difference - and I’m going to show them to you.

This book will help you:

Avoid the common problems and mistakes many players make when it comes to learning and playing barre chords

Learn the most important shapes quickly (and get them sounding good!)

Understand 100% how barre chords work so you can get maximum benefit from knowing them

Learn to use barre chords easily in your playing (without it taking years!)

Be able to play the thousands and thousands of songs which you need barre chords to play, as well as use them to write music of your own

If this all sounds good to you, then great, you’re in the right place!

HOW SHOULD YOU USE THIS BOOK?

For amazing results with No Bull Barre Chords for Guitar I’d suggest following these 5 simple tips:

1. Start at the beginning and go through the chapters in order!

Even if you have some experience with barre chords already, start at the beginning.

The first few chapters teach you the essentials you need for barre chord mastery! You’ll learn how barre chords work, how to get them sounding perfect, how to avoid the critical errors most players make and lots more...

These early chapters lay the foundation for mastering this skill, so whatever you do, don’t skip ‘em, even if you think you already know what they’re going to teach you!

2. Do the practical exercises

Playing and using barre chords is a skill which we master through practice, so, obvious though it may sound, make sure to use the practical exercises I give you.

These are the same kinds of exercises I’ve used to help hundreds of guitar players conquer barre chords. They’re short, easy to learn and most importantly, they really work.

All the exercises are written out using guitar fretboard diagrams or simple chord symbols which are easy to understand. There is absolutely no need for you to be able to read written music!

3. Test yourself using the quizzes

Use the quick quiz at the end of some of the chapters to check you’ve understood everything. The chapters build on each other, so it’s important to grasp each one before you progress to the next.

You’ll find the answers to the quiz questions too so that you can see how you did.

4. Use goal tracking in each chapter

At the start of each chapter we’ll be setting some goals for you to shoot for. These tell you what you will have achieved by the end of it.

To help you reach and track these goals, at the end of each chapter you’ll find a goal tracking checklist.

Mentally tick off each of these goals as you hit them… a cool way to review your progress, check you know everything you need to know and be 100% certain that you’re ready to move on to the next chapter!

5. Don’t avoid barre chords … use them!

Look for opportunities to use barre chords in any music you play. Integrate them into your playing. Many people avoid using them because they find them difficult to play. The consequence of this is that they never truly master them!

No matter how tricky they are at first, begin to work barre chords into your playing as soon as possible, and don’t