BARRE CHORD

Buster
WORKBOOK
 CONTENTS
M ODULE 1 - POW ER CHO RDS  4
M ODULE 2 - PART IAL BARRE CHOR D S  8
M ODULE 3 - BARRE CHO RDS 1 0
M ODULE 4 - BARRE CHO RD VARIATION S 17
M ODULE 5 - PRACT ICAL BARRE CHOR D TIPS  19

ABOUT ME

Hi! My name’s Dave - hailing from down under

in Melbourne, Australia. I am super passionate
not only about music and guitar, but also with
helping others reach their musical potential on
guitar.

Look, I’m not going to claim to be the best

guitarist in world who can shred your face off
with face-melting riffs. But I know I’m a great
teacher, and I know I can take you from a zero
guitarist to a hero guitarist fast. Everyone will
have a different definition of a guitar hero – but
in my eyes, it represents a guitarist who can
hold his own – write songs, play in bands and
make the most of his/her talents.

In this course I’m going to help you bust barre

chords once and for all!
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NOTES

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M O D ULE 1

P O WER C H OR D S

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W HAT A R E POWE R C H OR D S ?

What are power chords you may ask? Power chords are perhaps the most common chord shape
used in contemporary rock and roll. Name any famous rock band or rock song and more likely
than not, they will feature a power chord somewhere. Bands like Blink 182, Greenday, Guns N’
Roses & Metallica have the majority of their songs played with power chords.

Musically speaking, power chords are abbreviations of full chords, or in other words - a shortened
version of a chord which typically consists of 3 or more simultaneous notes. They contain the
root note, which identifies the name of the power chord, and the 5th note in the scale above the
root note. It for this reason that power chords are formally known as 5 chords (for example - a
C5 chord).

W HAT DOES T HIS HAV E TO D O WITH BA R R E C H OR D S ?

The reason why we’ll be starting with power chords is because they are a fundamental part of
being able to play a barre chord. The first 3 notes of any barre chord IS A POWER CHORD! We
need to be able to crawl before we can walk and this is where we’ll start. With the good ol’ fashion
power chord.

The beauty of the power chord is that they are incredibly easy to play, are extremely versatile
and sound especially awesome in rock music. Learning how to play these is ESSENTIAL for any
guitarist anyway, so don’t skip this section.

POW E R C H OR D S H A PES

There are 2 power chord shapes that we can use. The choice of which to use is a matter of personal
preference as they both essentially achieve the same thing. As you can see from below, the 3
String Power chord shape is an extension of the 2 String Power Chord Shape and simply provides
a fuller sound when played, but harmonically speaking won’t sound all that different.

2 String Power Chord Shape 3 String Power Chord Shape

• The root note • The root note
• The 5th above the root note • The 5th above the root note
• The octave above roote note
Root note - Determines the
name of the power chord

The 5th above the root note

The Octave above the root note

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F R E TTIN G TIPS

TIP 1 - Fret your fingers as close

as possible to the fret strip,
but not on the fret strip (the
metal strips on the neck of the
guitar). If you’re positioning
your fretting fingers far behind
the strip this will increase the
difficulty of getting a clean
note ringing out.

TIP 2 - Ensure your guitar is

sitting vertically on your lap.
Avoid leaning the face of the
guitar inwards and up. This is
a common mistake beginners
make and it makes getting
your fingers around the neck
much more difficult.

TIP 3 - Have your thumb sitting

behind the neck, not above it.
This will allow your fingers a
full range of motion to access
and stretch accross the front of
the fretboard.

MUT IN G U N WA N TE D STR IN GS

When we play power chords we only want

the notes that are being pushed down to ring
out. For 6th string power chords, in order
to mute the 1st 2nd and 3rd strings you can
simply make contact with them with your
index finger (but don’t apply pressure). This
will ensure that even if you hit the wrong
string when strumming, it will be muted.

For 5th string power chords, the 6th string is

now the note we want to mute. In order to do
so you can take your free middle finger and
make light contact with the 6th string (but
don’t apply pressure).

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POWER CHORD
ST E P 1
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• Determine what power
chord you need to play.
• Find the note on 6th or 5th
string of the fretboard.
Example - F# Power Chord
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BARRE CHORD
SOLUTION 1
SOLUTION 3
SOLUTION 2
SOLUTION 4
STE P 2 ST EP 3
• Locate the root note for the F# power • Depending on the shape you want to play (2 string or 3 string)
chord and use your index finger to place your other fingers relative to the power chord root note.
position your power chord shape. • Make sure to only pluck the notes you’re pushing down with
your fretting hand.
Example - For F# Power Chord there are 2 Example - F# Power Chord
options • See the 4 possible solutions above!
• 2nd Fret of the 6th string • They are all correct. What you choose is a matter of
• 9th Fret of the 5th string preference.
M OD U L E 1
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M O D ULE 2

PA RT IA L B A R R E
C HORD S

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EXT EN DING TH E POWE R C H OR D

In this module let’s pick up from where we left in module 1 with our 3 string power chord. As you
can see in the diagram below we’ve now covered 3 out a possible 6 string of what a typical major
barre chord looks like - let’s add in our next string to create what I like to call a partial barre chord
shape. We’ll be using our middle finger to play this note.

Full Barre Chord 3 String Power Chord 4 String Partial

Barre Chord

5T H ST RING & 6TH STR IN G R OOT

It must be noted that we get a differents result for this chord shape depending on whether the
root note is on the 5th or 6th string. If we play this particular chord shape with the root on the
6th string, it is effectivley a MAJOR chord. If we play this shape with our root on the 5th string it
becomes a MINOR chord.

Root on the 6th string Root on the 5th string

• The root note (index finger) • The root note (index finger)
• The 5th above the root note (ring finger) • The 5th above the root note (ring finger)
• The octave above roote note (pinky finger) • The octave above roote note (pinky finger)
• The major third (middle finger) • The minor third (middle finger)

F major B minor

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M O D ULE 3

BARRE C H OR D S

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BA R R E C H OR D S

Hopefully by now you’ll be confident with power chords. With these under your belt you’re now
ready to tackle full barre chords! This chord gives beginners more grief and has resulted in more
smashed guitars and tears than any other technique! But with our power chord foundation and
the soon to come tips and tricks, you’ll be able to master barre chords and say hello to a new level
of guitar freedom.

At the core, barre chords are very basic, however beginner guitarists will often give up just
because they can’t immediately play the chord. This is NONSENSE and you (the reader) are better
than this. Finger dexterity and strength takes practice, patience and persistence - 1 year from
now, these 3 P’s will separate the guitar heroes from the guitar zeroes.

Barre chords are given their name from the way in which they are fretted - by having one or
more fingers pressing down across multiple strings on the same fret. This resembles a rigid “bar”
that presses down on the strings - hence the term “Barre Chord”. If you’re wondering “why the
strange spelling?”, well that’s because the specific spelling “barre” comes from latin-Spanish, as
the guitar originated from Spain.

In contrast to power chords, barre chords contain more notes in their composition and therefore
provide more specific voicings. With power chords, if you were to strike a power chord by itself
with no context (not in a chord progression), it would neither be minor or major. With barre
chords we are able to be more intentional with what we play and we’re able to add more depth
and color to our chord.

When do we use barre chords? Well, barre chords are typically used for more complex voicings
and for when we are playing in keys that are not suited to basic open chords. The beauty of barre
chords are that their shapes are movable up and down the neck much like power chords!

Similar to power chords, we will base the root note of barre chords off either the 6th (E) or 5th
(A) string of the guitar. The root note will define the base name of the chord, and the shape will
determine whether it is major or minor. Let’s start with 6th string barre chords.

6T H ST R IN G BA R R E C H OR D S

The 2 main forms of barre chords are the Major barre chord and the minor barre chord. The 6th
string shapes for these 2 chord types are shown below. Picking up from Module 2 we will now
use our index finger to “barre” across all the strings of the the root fret - this results in our Major
chord shape shown below on the left. The minor 6th string barre chord shape is the same except
we lift our middle finger. These shapes are movable up and down the fretboard.

6th String Major 6th String Minor

Barre Chord Shape Barre Chord Shape

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6T H ST RIN G M A JOR BA R R E C H OR D S

6th String Major Barre Chord’s are major barre chords with their root note on the 6th (low E)
string. Where does this shape come from? It actually originates from the E major chord which is
an easy beginner’s open chord shape. To visualize how 6th string major barre chords come from
this shape, try playing the E Major chord as shown below with your middle, ring and pinky finger.
Place your index finger behind the nut of the guitar.

Open E major Pretend the open strings Shifting the shape

are fretted with your gives us a F major barre
chord

Root note is open E.

Therefore chord is
E major
Root note is open F.
Therefore chord is
F major

6T H ST RIN G M IN OR BA R R E C H OR D S

6th String Minor Barre Chord’s are minor barre chords with their root note on the 6th (low E)
string. Similarly to the major shape, the minor shape originates from an open chord, the E minor
chord which is an easy beginner’s open chord shape. To visualize how 6th string minor barre
chords come from this shape, try playing the E minor chord as shown below with your ring and
pinky finger. Place your index finger behind the nut of the guitar.

Open E minor Pretend the open strings Shifting the shape

are fretted with your gives us a F minor barre
chord

Root note is open E.

Therefore chord is
an E minor
Root note is open F.
Therefore chord is
an F minor

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5T H ST RIN G M A JOR BA R R E C H OR D S

5th String Major Barre Chord’s are major barre chords with their root note on the 4th (A) string.
Where does this shape come from? It actually originates from the A major chord which is an easy
beginner’s open chord shape. To visualize how 5th string major barre chords come from this
shape, try playing the A Major chord as shown below with your middle, ring and pinky finger.
Place your index finger behind the nut of the guitar.

Open A major Pretend the open strings Shifting the shape

are fretted with your gives us a Bb major barre
chord

Root note is open A.

Therefore chord is
A major
Root note is open
Bb. Therefore chord
is Bb major

5T H ST RIN G M IN OR BA R R E C H OR D S

5th String Minor Barre Chord’s are minor barre chords with their root note on the 5th (A) string.
Similarly to the major shape, the minor shape originates from an open chord, the A minor chord
which is an easy beginner’s open chord shape. To visualize how 5th string minor barre chords
come from this shape, try playing the A minor chord as shown below with your middle, ring and
pinky finger. Place your index finger behind the nut of the guitar.

Open A minor Pretend the open strings Shifting the shape

are fretted with your gives us a Bb minor barre
chord

Root note is open A.

Therefore chord is
an A minor
Root note is open
Bb. Therefore chord
is an Bb minor

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GO LDEN BA R R E C H OR D S TIPS

By now you should understand how barre chords are formed and what they should look like, but
now we’ll get into the important part - how to play them properly! The following tips on this page
are the key aspects you need to consider when getting your barre chord to ring out properly.

TIP 1
FRET AS CLO S E TO T HE F RET STR IP AS POS S IB L E
A lot of beginners underestimate how placement of the finger along the fret can impact the
difficulty of getting the note to ring out. When placing you fingers on the fretboard for any
note or shape, try to place your finger as close as possible to the fretstrip (towards the body
of guitar). The further out you go (towards the neck) the harder and harder it is to get a nice
ringing note. So be mindful and try to sgift your fingers towards the body. Avoid placing your
fingers right on top of the fretstrip too. Just before the strip is the sweet spot for easy fretting.

TIP 2
ROLL YOUR IN DEX F IN GER TO BA R R E WITH TH E B ON Y E D GE
Our index fingers aren’t perfect rigid bars as much as we’d like them to be. As such, there’s
soft parts, bony parts and everything inbetween. The front part of your index finger can
often be soft and cushy which makes it difficult to apply pressure on a string. Often all it
takes to get the barre sounding nice is to slightly roll your index finger back so that the bony
edge of your finger is fretting the strings. Experiement with different vertical positions of
your index finger too. You may find a sweet spot that works best for your index finger.

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GO LDEN BA R R E C H OR D S TIPS

TIP 3
K EEP YO UR T HUMB CEN T ER E D B E H IN D TH E N EC K
Beginners often disregard the important of the thumb! It’s connected to your hand and
therefore makes a big impact on your other fingers depending on it’s position. Make sure
your thumb isn’t above the fretboard. It should be well behind the neck of the guitar and
should also be placed in the gap between your index finger and ring and pinky fingers. See
the photo’s below for clarification.

TIP 4
CONSE RV E YO UR EN ERGY - A PPLY PR ES S U R E WH E R E N E E D E D
When you look at the shape of a major barre chord on a diagram. You’ll notice that your
index finger only really needs to push down 3 strings (6th, 2nd and 1st). So with that in mind,
one tip is to only really apply pressure in those areas! Things because a little tougher when
you need to barre minor chords, as your index finger now covers 4 strings. But the 5th and
4th string don’t require any pressure - just focus on what does. This will save you strain on
your index finger.

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GO LDEN BA R R E C H OR D S TIPS

TIP 5
FOR 6T H ST R MIN OR BARRE C H OR D S - U S E YOU R FR E E FIN GE R
6th string minor chords are tough! As mentioned in the previous tip, this chord shape
requires the index finger to do more work and cover more strings than the major shape.
One tool we have at our disposal though, is our middle finger which does not need to fret any
notes. You can use this finger to help apply more pressure onto the index finger.

TIP 6
U SE YOUR ARM TO APPLY PR ES S U R E IN WA R D S
Clamping your fingers and thumb on the fretboard is not the only way to apply pressure onto
the strings. One massive tip that many people don’t realise is that you can use the strength of
your arm to pull your whole hand into the fretboard. AVOID straing your body and muscles
whilst doing this, is should be a gentle pull of your arm inwards. If you choose to do this, you
will also need to ensure your strumming arm/elbow is comfortably able to counter-balance
the force by keeping the guitar body close to your body.

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M O D ULE 4

BARRE C H OR D
VA RIATI ON S

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In this module we’ll cover some additional barre chord shapes that are slight variations from the
standard Major & minor shapes we’ve already learnt. The 3 additional variations we’ll learn to
play on both the 6th & 5th strings are the Major 7th, minor 7th and Dominant 7th shapes.

6T H ST R IN G BA R R E C H OR D S
VA R IATON S

Major 7th minor 7th Dominant 7th

5T H ST R IN G BA R R E C H OR D
VA R IATION S

Major 7th minor 7th Dominant 7th

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 CREATING ANY
BARRE CHORD
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BARRE CHORD

SOLUTION 1
SOLUTION 2

ST E P 1 STE P 2 ST EP 3

© 2020 GuitarZero2Hero | www.guitarzero2hero.com

• Determine what barre chord
you need to play.
• Find the note on 6th or 5th
string of the fretboard.
Example - F# Major Barre Chord
• Locate the root note for the F# power
chord and use your index finger to barre
the entire fret.
Example - For F# Power Chord there are 2
options
• 2nd Fret of the 6th string
• 9th Fret of the 5th string
• Depending on the shape you want to play (5th or 6th string
barre chord) place your other fingers relative to the index
finger you have barred.
• Make sure to only pluck the notes you’re pushing down with
your fretting hand.
Example - F# Power Chord
• See the 2 possible solutions above!
• They are both correct. What you choose is a matter of
M OD U L E 4

preference.

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M O D ULE 5

P RACT I C A L TI PS
& TRICKS

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MUT IN G UN WA N TE D STR IN GS ON 5TH
ST RING BA R R E C H OR D S
When playing 5th string barre chords we always want to ensure the open 6th string does not ring
out. If it does, we’re left with a less than ideal sounding chord. How do we do that if all our fingers
are occupied? Well we could just be super careful and focus our strumming on the 5 targeting
strings, but that’s not very practical in a live setting whilst we’re strumming away. What we can
do is to use the very tip of our index finger to lightly touch the 6th string. You only need the
tiniest amount of contact with the string and that should be enough to mute it. If you’ve muted it
correctly you can now strum every string and only 5 strings will ring out.

KN OW IN G WH E N TO U S E FU L L BA R R E
C H OR D S
Barre chords are amazingly versatile chords and there’s so many possibilities. But do we always
need to strum all the strings of a barre chord? Well no! It all depends on the context. If you’re
playing a section of a song that is meant to be a stripped back build up, it might not be suitable
to be banging away at the strings like a 90’s grunge rockstar. Consider using parts of the chord,
like the power chord or the top 4 strings. Use the full barre in sections you feel requires volume
and energy. All this with come with experience, but next time you’re playing a song think to
yourself, is hitting all the strings really necessary for this part of the song? Dynamic is incredibly
important and seperates mediocre players from the pros.

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US IN G YO UR TH U M B TO PL AY BA R R E
C H OR D S
We were blessed with 5 digits on each hand, so why limit our fretting hand to just 4 fingers? The
thumb can be an extremely useful tool in our guitar arsenal. For obvious reasons, it’s not really
possible to use our thumb on any of the higher strings, but it’s in the PERFECT position to fret the
6th string. Players like John Mayer, Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix and John Frusciate (yes they’re all
guitar legends) are known to frequently use their thumb when playing guitar. The best place to
start looking implementing our thumb for guitar playing is on barre chords.

To use our thumb, simply reach it over the neck and bend your thumb into an L shape as if
you were pulling down on a pez dispenser. Even just the smallest amount of pressure should be
enough to fret the 6th string with your thumb. With the root note now covered by your thumb,
your index finger is only required to barre across 2 strings for a major chord or 3 strings for a
minor chord. It can significantly reduce the workload on your index finger!

NOTE : Using your thumb only works for 6th string barre chord shapes. Unless you have freak
hands like Brian May or John Mayer

6th St. Major Barre With Thumb 6th St. minor Barre With Thumb

PERCUS SIV E POWE R OF BA R R E

C H OR D S
With barre chords, we’re generally making contact with every single string with our fretting
hand. This presents us with the oppotunity to simply lift our fretting fingers and instantly turn
the barre chord into a percussive element. Acoustic players like Jack johnson and Ed Sheeran
take massive advantage of this. With this set up, your strumming hand can continuosly strum
up and down keeping rhythm, whilst your fretting hand can then selectively apply pressure on
certain beats/strums. This can result in super rhythmic and upbeat strumming patterns that can
get the party started - no drummer required.

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CO MMON BAR R E C H OR D TRA N S ITION S

When you start on guitar you’ll generally find that the F and Bm barre chords pop up time and time
again. These are generally the most common barre chord shapes you’ll encounter as they work
well with many open chord shapes and therefore are used in acoustic playing quite significantly.
It’s incredibly important to practice these common transitions, going back and forth between 2
chords. Whilst practicing your transitions be sure to consider the following tips:

• Do the chords you’re playing have any notes in common? If so there’s no need to lift your
fingers from their position. Efficiency is key.
• Build your chords bass note down - target the root note first and then build to the higher
strings.
• If getting the full barre is too difficult start by transitioning to the power chord equivalent, it
will sound 90% as good.

F CHORD
TRANSISTIONS
F Major

C Major A minor G Major D minor

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CO MMON BAR R E C H OR D TRA N S ITION S

BM CHORD
TRANSISTIONS
B minor

D Major E minor G Major A Major

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PART IAL BA R R E C H OR D S H A PES

The barre chord shape is a powerful thing. So powerful that you don’t even need to play everything
in order to get the flavour of the chord. What do I mean by that? Well you can target select strings
from the shape and use that smaller “chunk” as a basis for improvising or layering on top of the
same full chord. The chunk of notes that you select out of the barre chord shape is up to you, you
could take 4 strings like we did in module 2 or even 3-2 strings from the shape. This is more handy
for songwriting/improvising and layering than anything else. If playing by yourself, then the full
shape would be more appropriate in most cases.

PARTIAL
SHAPES EXAMPLE
Full F Major Shape

Partial Shape Partial Shape Partial Shape Partial Shape

Example 1 Example 2 Example 3 Example 4

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PART IAL BA R R E C H OR D S H A PES

PARTIAL
SHAPES EXAMPLE
Full B minor Shape

Partial Shape Partial Shape

Example 1 Example 4

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